Folding history back onto itself

The history of artists working with the moving image constitutes a substantial dialogue with technology. The ability to construct a complex visual narrative from disparate visual material is a developed skill that is the product of such an evolving dialogue with technique. The use of found and stolen images and their re-processing within such an ‘experimental’ practice can be experienced as transforming the originating material and emphasizing aspects previously hidden. Such ‘shock tactics’ performed on historic material will be examined in the film work of Peter Tscherkassky (Dreamwork Austria 10 minutes 2001) and Martin Arnold (Alone: Life Wastes Andy Hardy Austria 15 minutes 1998). The traumatic effect of these films will be examined in relation to Maya Deren’s ideas of ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ editing and Chris Brewin’s neurological research into traumatic remembering which proposes the interaction between two types of memory systems: SAM (Situational Accessible Memory) and VAM (Verbally Accessible Memory).

Surface morphologies and internal fine structures of bast fibers

Fiber surface morphologies and associated internal structures are closely related to its properties. Unlike other fibers including cotton, bast fibers possess transverse nodes and fissures in cross-sectional and longitudinal directions. Their morphologies and associated internal structures were anatomically examined under the scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the morphologies of the nodes and the fissures of bast fibers varied depending on the construction of the inner fibril cellular layers. The transverse nodes and fissures were formed by the folding and spiralling of the cellular layers during plant growth. The dimensions of nodes and fissures were determined by the dislocations of the cellular layers. There were also many longitudinal fissures in bast fibers. Some deep longitudinal fissures even opened the fiber lumen for a short way along the fiber. In addition, the lumen channel of the bast fibers could be disturbed or disrupted by the nodes and the spirals of the internal cellular layers. The existence of the transverse nodes and fissures in the bast fibers could degrade the fiber mechanical properties, whereas the longitudinal fissures may contribute to the very rapid moisture absorption and desorption.

Miscibility, crystallization κinetics and real-time small-Angle x-ray scattering investigation of the semicrystalline morphology in thermosetting polymer blends of epoxy resin and poly(ethylene oxide)

Thermosetting polymer blends of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and bisphenol-A-type epoxy resin (ER) were prepared using 4,4′-methylenebis(3-chloro-2,6-diethylaniline) (MCDEA) as curing agent. The miscibility and crystallization behavior of MCDEA-cured ER/PEO blends were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The existence of a single composition-dependent glass transition temperature (Tg) indicates that PEO is completely miscible with MCDEA-cured ER in the melt and in the amorphous state over the entire composition range. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) investigations indicated hydrogen-bonding interaction between the hydroxyl groups of MCDEA-cured ER and the ether oxygens of PEO in the blends, which is an important driving force for the miscibility of the blends. The average strength of the hydrogen bond in the cured ER/PEO blends is higher than in the pure MCDEA-cured ER. Crystallization kinetics of PEO from the melt is strongly influenced by the blend composition and the crystallization temperature. At high conversion, the time dependence of the relative degree of crystallinity deviated from the Avrami equation. The addition of a non-crystallizable ER component into PEO causes a depression of both the overall crystallization rate and the melting temperature. The surface free energy of folding σe displays a minimum with variation of composition. The spherulitic morphology of PEO in the ER/PEO blends exhibits typical characteristics of miscible crystalline/amorphous blends, and the PEO spherulites in the blends are always completely volume-filling. Real-time small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments reveal that the long period L increases drastically with increasing ER content at the same temperatures. The amorphous cured ER component segregates interlamellarly during the crystallization process of PEO because of the low chain mobility of the cured ER. A model describing the semicrystalline morphology of MCDEA-cured ER/PEO blends is proposed based on the SAXS results. The semicrystalline morphology is a stack of crystalline lamellae; the amorphous fraction of PEO, the branched ER chains and imperfect ER network are located between PEO lamellae.

Soft-sediment deformation structures in the middle permian Wandrawandian siltstone, southern Sydney basin: implications for depositional environment and basin tectonics

The Middle Permian Wandrawandian Siltstone at Warden Head near Ulladulla in the southern Sydney Basin is dominated by fossiliferous siltstone and mudstone, with a large amount of dropstones (lonestones) and some pebbly sandstone beds. Two general types of deposits are recognised from the cliff succession in view of the timing and mechanism of their formation. One is represented by the background (or primary) deposits of offshore to slope environments with abundant dropstones of glacial marine origin. This facies occurs throughout the cliff sections at Warden Head. The second type is distinguished by secondary, soft-sediment deformational deposits and structures of the primary (background) deposits, and comprises three successive layers of sandy mudstone dikes. In the second type of deposit, metre scale, laterally extensive syn-depositional slump deformation structures occur extensively in the middle part of the Wandrawandian Siltstone. The deformation structures vary in morphology and pattern, including large-scale complex-type folds, flexural stratification, concave-up structures, small-magnitude -faults accompanied by folding and brecciation. The slumps and associated syn-depositional structures are herein attributed to penecontemporaneous deformations of soft sediments (mostly mud and silty mud), formed as a result of mass movement of unconsolidated and/or semi-consolidated substrate following earthquake events. The occurrence of the earthquake event deposits (or seismites) at Warden Head supports the current view that the Sydney Basin was located in a back-arc setting near the New England magmatic arc on an active continental margin during the Middle Permian, and the timing of the earthquake events is here interpreted to indicate the onset of the Hunter Bowen Orogeny in the southern Sydney Basin.

The Permian of Timor : stratigraphy, palaeontology and palaeography

The Permian of Timor in the Lesser Sunda Islands has attracted the attention of palaeontologists since the middle of the nineteenth century because of the richness, diversity and excellent state of preservation of its fauna. These abundant fossil data have been compiled and updated for the present account. The Permian rocks of Timor were deposited on the northern margin of Australia. At the present time the northern margin of Australia, in the region of Timor, is involved in a continent–arc collision, where Australia is colliding with the Banda Arcs. As a result of this collision, Permian rocks of the Australian margin have been disrupted by folding and faulting with the generation of mud-matrix mélange, and uplifted to form part of the island of Timor. Due to this tectonic disruption, it has proved difficult to establish a reliable stratigraphy for the Permian units on Timor, especially as the classic fossil collections were obtained largely from the mélange or purchased from the local people, and do not have adequate stratigraphic control. Detailed systematic, structural, stratigraphic and sedimentological studies since the 1960s have provided a firmer stratigraphic and palaeogeographic background for reconsideration of the significance of the classic fossil collections. Permian rocks on Timor belong either to a volcanic-carbonate sequence (Maubisse Formation), or to a clastic sequence (Atahoc and Cribas formations) in which volcanics are less prominent. The Permian sequences were deposited on Australian continental basement which was undergoing extension with spasmodic volcanic activity. Carbonates of the Maubisse Formation were deposited on horst blocks and volcanic edifices, while clastic sediments of the Atahoc and Cribas formations were deposited in grabens. The clastic sediments are predominantly fine-grained, derived from a distant siliciclastic source, and are interbedded with sediments derived from the volcanics and carbonates of adjacent horst blocks. Bottom conditions in the graben were often anoxic. In the present account, events on Timor during the Permian are related to the regional tectonic context, with the northward movement of Australia leading to the amelioration of the climate from sub-glacial to sub-tropical, together with the separation of crustal blocks from the northern Australian margin to form the Meso-Tethys.

Earthquake-controlled event deposits and its tectonic significance from the Middle Permian Wandrawandian Siltstone in the Sydney Basin, Australia

The Sydney-Bowen basin in eastern Australia is an elongate back arc-converted foreland basin system situated between the Lachlan Fold Belt in the west and the New England Fold Belt in the east. The Middle Permian Wandrawandian Siltstone at Warden Head near Ulladulla in the southern Sydney Basin is dominated by fossiliferous siltstone and mudstone, with a large amount of dropstones and minor pebbly sandstone beds. Two general types of deposits are recognized from the siltstone unit in view of the timing and mechanism of formation. One is represented by the primary deposits from offshore to subtidal environments with abundant dropstones of glacial marine origin. The second type is distinguished by secondary, soft-sediment deformational deposits and structures, and comprises three layers of mudstone dykes of seismic origin. In the latter type, metre scale, laterally extensive syn-depositional slump deformation structures occur in the middle part of the Wandrawandian Siltstone. The deformation structures vary in morphol-ogy and pattern, including large-scale complex-type folds, flexural stratification, concave-up structures, faulting of small displacements accompanied by folding and brecciation. The slumps and associated syn-sedimentary structures are attributed to penecontemporaneous deformations of soft sediments (mostly silty mud) formed as a result of mass movement of unconsolidated and/or semi-consolidated substrate following an earthquake event. The occurrence of the earthquake event deposits supports the current view that the Sydney Basin was located in a back-arc setting near the New England magmatic arc on an active continental margin during the Middle Permian.

Nanostructure and hydrogen bonding in interpolyelectrolyte complexes of poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) and poly(acrylic acid)

Nanostructured poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PCL-b-P2VP)/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) interpolyelectrolyte complexes (IPECs) were prepared by casting from THF/ethanol solution. The morphological behaviour of this amphiphilic block copolymer/polyelectrolyte complexes with respect to the composition was investigated in a solvent mixture. The phase behaviour, specific interactions and morphology were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, optical microscopy (OM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Micelle formation occurred due to the aggregation of hydrogen bonded P2VP block and polyelectrolyte (PAA) from non-interacted PCL blocks. It was observed that the hydrodynamic diameter (D_h) of the micelles in solution decreased with increasing PAA content up to 40 wt%. After 50 wt% PAA content, D_h again increased. The micelle formation in PCL-b-P2VP/PAA IPECs was due to the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding between PAA homopolymer units and P2VP blocks of the block copolymer. The penetration of PAA homopolymers into the shell of the PCL-b-P2VP block copolymer micelles resulted in the folding of the P2VP chains, which in turn reduced the hydrodynamic size of the micelles. After the saturation of the shell with PAA homopolymers, the size of the micelles increased due to the absorption of added PAA onto the surface of the micelles.

Solospun : the long staple weavable singles yarn

Solospun^TM is a spinning technology which provides the means to produce a singles yarn that can be successfully woven as either warp or weft. The technology is a versatile and cost effective alternative to two-folding, Sirospun or sizing. It offers significant benefits in terms of efficiency and productivity. Solospun^TM is a simple, inexpensive, clip-on attachment for the spinning of long staple, weavable singles yarns. The technology is the result of a joint development between CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology, The Woolmark Company and WRONZ and was commercially released in 1998. It is now successfully operating in worsted mills worldwide. The Solospun^TM hardware consists of a pair of rollers held in a bracket, which is clipped onto the front of the pendulum-drafting arm. Each roller is positioned immediately below, and parallel to, each top front draft roller where it interacts with the emerging drafted fibre strand before twist insertion. The roller-fibre interaction subtly changes the structure of the yarn, which dramatically increases its abrasion resistance. This allows Solospun yarns to be woven without twofolding or sizing, providing significant cost savings. Depending on fabric structure, weaving performance is equivalent to that of conventional two-fold yarns. Fabrics woven from Solospun^TM yarns are of good quality and appearance. Some aspects, including preferred hand and FAST results, are equal or superior to two-fold yarn fabrics. As with compact and condensed spinning, Solospun^TM offers significant reductions in yarn
hairiness. However, Solospun can be simply implemented on existing spinning frames and goes much further by making the singles yarns weavable.

Design and degradation modelling through artificial neural networks

Automotive is one of the major manufacturing industries in Australia that requires extensive reliability test for the components used in vehicles. To achieve a shorter time-to-market and a highly reliable product while reducing the amount of physical prototyping, there is a growing need for better understanding on the effect that the design parameters have on the degradation of the product. This paper presents comprehensive descriptions of applying Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to capture the relationships between design and degradation. Consequently, two models of different practical significance are created as the result of the work. The vision of the models is to be used by the testers and designers as a guideline in design evaluation, so that time-consuming and expensive iterations of the product developmental cycle can be reduced substantially. The degradation of the folding force of a mechanical system is used to illustrate our approach.

Structural and functional characterization of the oxidoreductase a-DsbA1 from wolbachia pipientis

The α-proteobacterium Wolbachia pipientis is a highly successful intracellular endosymbiont of invertebrates that manipulates its host's reproductive biology to facilitate its own maternal transmission. The fastidious nature of Wolbachia and the lack of genetic transformation have hampered analysis of the molecular basis of these manipulations. Structure determination of key Wolbachia proteins will enable the development of inhibitors for chemical genetics studies. Wolbachia encodes a homologue (α-DsbA1) of the Escherichia coli dithiol oxidase enzyme EcDsbA, essential for the oxidative folding of many exported proteins. We found that the active-site cysteine pair of Wolbachia α-DsbA1 has the most reducing redox potential of any characterized DsbA. In addition, Wolbachia α-DsbA1 possesses a second disulfide that is highly conserved in α-proteobacterial DsbAs but not in other DsbAs. The α-DsbA1 structure lacks the characteristic hydrophobic features of EcDsbA, and the protein neither complements EcDsbA deletion mutants in E. coli nor interacts with EcDsbB, the redox partner of EcDsbA. The surface characteristics and redox profile of α-DsbA1 indicate that it probably plays a specialized oxidative folding role with a narrow substrate specificity. This first report of a Wolbachia protein structure provides the basis for future chemical genetics studies.

An analysis of side chain interactions and pair correlations within antiparallel β-sheets : the differences between backbone hydrogen-bonded and non-hydrogen-bonded residue pairs

Cross-strand pair correlations are calculated for residue pairs in antiparallel β-sheet for two cases: pairs whose backbone atoms are hydrogen bonded together (H-bonded site) and pairs which are not (non-H-bonded site). The statistics show that this distinction is important. When glycine is located on the edge of a sheet, it shows a 3:1 preference for the H-bonded site. Thestrongest observed correlations are for pairs of disulfide-bonded cystines, many of which adopt a close-packed conformation with each cystine in a spiral conformation of opposite chirality to its partner. It is likely that these pairs are a signature for the family of small, cystine-rich proteins. Most other strong positive and negative correlations involve charged and polar residues. It appears that electrostatic compatibility is the strongest factor affecting pair correlation. Significant correlations are observed for β- and γ-branched residues inthe non-H-bonded site. An examination of the structures showsa directionality in side chain packing. There is a correlation between (1) the directionality in the packing interactions of non-H-bonded β- and γ-branched residue pairs, (2) the handedness of the observed enantiomers of chiral β-branched side chains, and (3) the handedness of the twist of β-sheet. These findings have implications for the formation of β-sheets during protein folding and the mechanism by which the sheet becomes twisted

Properties of an in vitro selected Pb2+ cleavage motif

The addition of Pb 2+ to a small RNA molecule consisting of an asymmetric internal loop of six nucleotides results in site-specific cleavage followed by hydrolysis of the 2′,3′-cyclic phosphate intermediate [Pan, T., & Uhlenbeck, O. C. (1992) Nature 358, 560-563]. Here we show that the reaction is highly specific for Pb 2+ and the cleavage rate increases exponentially with pH from 5.5 to 7.0, both in the presence and in the absence of Mg 2+. This suggests that the reaction mechanism involves Pb 2+ hydroxide acting as a base. Several sequence variants of the RNA are found to be equally active in both steps of the reaction, suggesting that they fold into a similar structure.