Novel poly(aryl ether ketone)s containing various pendant groups .2. Gas-transport properties

The gas transport of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane gases in a series of poly(aryl ether ketone)s was examined. These polymer membranes have a wide range of permeability coefficients and permselectivity coefficients, showing excellent gas-transport properties. The enhanced interchain interaction in the polymers due to intermolecular hydrogen bonds and ionic bonds results in a considerable increase in permselectivity but a decrease in permeability. On the contrary, the polymers with bulky arkyl substituents show significantly increased permeability. The causes of this trend are interpreted in terms of the free volume, interchain distance, and glass transition temperature together with the respective contribution of gas solubility and diffusivity to the overall permeability. Of interest is the observation that the ionomer IMPEK-K+, which simultaneously contains bulky isopropyl substituents and pendant carboxylate groups, exhibits over twice higher CO2 permeability and 15% higher CO2/CH4 permselectivity than those of bisphenol-A p'olysulfone (PSF). The possibility of using the new synthesized poly(aryl ether ketone)s in gas separation membrane application is also discussed. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Synthesis of a series of chiral copolymers with azo groups and investigations of reversible liquid crystalline alignment induced by the LB films of these materials

A series of liquid crystalline copolymers, poly{2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate}-co-{6-[4-(S-2-methyl-1-butyloxycarbonylphenylazo)phenoxy]hexyl methacrylate} with an azobenzene moiety as photoreactive mesogenic unit, was prepared and investigated by using DSC, polarized optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results show that these polymers exhibit smectic phases. Z-type Langmuir-Blodgett films of these copolymers were successfully deposited onto calcium fluoride and quartz. Reversible homeotropic and planar liquid crystal alignments were induced by using the photochromism of the LB films of one of the copolymers containing 20.6 mol % of the azo unit.

Novel polyaryletherketones containing various pendant groups .1. Synthesis and characterization

Novel high glass transition temperature polyaryletherketones, containing pendant amido, alkyl, and carboxyl groups with reduced viscosity above 0.54 dL/g, were synthesized via solution nucleophilic polycondensation reaction of phenolphthalin, 2',2 ''-diisopropyl-5',5 ''-dimethylphenolphthalin, and 3,3'-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)isobenzopyrrolidone with bis(4-nitrophenyl)ketone in the presence of potassium carbonate. By ion exchange with Na+ and K+, four ionomers were also prepared. A new monomer simultaneously containing carboxyl and algyl substituents was synthesized by reduction reaction of 2',2 ''-diisopropyl-5',5 ''-dimethyl-phenolphthalein. The resulting polymers were soluble in a few polar aprotic solvents; transparent, colorless, and tough films could easily be cast from DMF or DMSO solution. The mechanical properties of the films were excellent; and their tensile strength, elongation at break, and tensile moduli were in the range of 67.1-97.1 MPa, 7.8-165%, and 1.47-2.27 GPa, respectively. The prepared polymers showed fairly good thermal stability and resonably high glass transition temperatures above 210 degrees C. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Synthesis and thermal transitional properties of side-chain liquid crystalline polyacrylates containing para-nitroazobenzene as mesogenic groups

The synthesis and characterization of side-chain liquid crystalline (LC) polyacrylates containing para-nitroazobenzene (Pn) as mesogenic groups were described. Homopolymers with 3 and 4 carbon atoms in the spacers were non-LC polymers; for homopolymers with 6 carbon atoms in the spacer, nematic LC behavior was observed. Copolymers with acrylic acid as one component exhibited an S-Ad phase according to the WAXD results which showed the d/l of 1.4-1.54 for the copolymers with 3, 4, and 6 carbon atoms in the spacers. Considering the molecular structure as well as the WAXD results of the copolymers, the possible molecular arrangement in the smectic Sad phase was proposed, in which the smectic layers were composed of the antiparallel mesogens and the antiparallel arrangement was considered to be enhanced due to the H bond between - COOH and - NO2. The stress-induced orientational phenomena of Pn in the LC states was also discussed. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYACRYLATES CONTAINING CHARGE-TRANSFER GROUPS

Polyacrylates containing para-nitro azobenzene have been synthesized by free radical polymerization. The influence of the length of the spacer of the homopolyacrylates (HPn, n=3,4,6), content of methyl acrylate in the copolyacrylates (CP6) with para-nitro azobenzene groups on the thermal properties, such as liquid crystallinity, Tg and Tm, was studied by DSC, WAXD and polarized optical microscopy. Among the polymers studied, only the homopolyacrylate (HP6)with six carbon atoms in the spacer exhibited a nematic phase. The second-harmonic generation (SHG) signal of the poled HP6 film was detected qualitatively by Maker-fringer method.

Chemical Bonding between Heteropoly Acid and Oxygen-containing Groups on the Surface of Activated Carbon

In order to define the force of heteropoly acids on absorbed activated carbon surface, IR spectra of 12-silicotungstic acid (SiW12) and 12-tungstophosphoric acid (PW12) absorbed on activated carbon and in oxygen-containing organic compound solutions were studied. Based on the IR spectra and UV characteristics of the heteropoly acids in various chemical conditions, the chemical bonding between heteropoly acid and oxygen-containing gropus on the surface of activated carbon was suggested.

MODIFIED POLYSULFONES .1. SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYSULFONES WITH UNSATURATED END-GROUPS

Chloro-terminated polysulfones with various molecular weights were modified with poly(ethylene oxide) and poly[(ethylene oxide)(propylene oxide)] macromers carrying alpha-hydroxyl and omega-allyl end groups via classical polycondensation reactions. The pr

PENDANT FUNCTIONAL-GROUP COPOLYETHER SULFONES .1. SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW COPOLYETHER SULFONES WITH PENDANT ALDEHYDE GROUPS MODIFIED INTO PHENOLIC AZOMETHINE GROUPS

New functional copolyether sulfones with pendant aldehyde groups were synthesized by the classical polycondensation reaction between 4,4' -dichlorodiphenyl sulfone (I) and various bisphenols such as 5,5'-methylene bis-salicylaldehyde (II-2), 2,2-bis( 4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (III), and 2,6-bis(4-hydroxybenzylidene)cyclohexanone (IV). Condensation reaction with 4-aminophenol led to pendant phenolic azomethine groups containing copolyether sulfones. The structures of the resulting polymers were confirmed by IR, H-1-NMR spectra, and elemental analyses. The polymers were characterized by reduced viscosity, solubility, thermal stability, DSC, and x-ray diffraction measurements.

Zooplankton functional groups on the continental shelf of the yellow sea

Zooplankton plays a vital role in marine ecosystems. Variations in the zooplankton species composition, biomass, and secondary production will change the structure and function of the ecosystem. How to describe this process and make it easier to be modeled in the Yellow Sea ecosystem is the main purpose of this paper. The zooplankton functional groups approach, which is considered a good method of linking the structure of food webs and the energy flow in the ecosystems, is used to describe the main contributors of secondary produciton of the Yellow Sea ecosystem. The zooplankton can be classified into six functional groups: giant crustaceans, large copepods, small copepods, chaetognaths, medusae, and salps. The giant crustaceans, large copepods, and small copepods groups, which are the main food resources for fish, are defined depending on the size spectrum. Medusae and chaetognaths are the two gelatinous carnivorous groups, which compete with fish for food. The salps group, acting as passive filter-feeders, competes with other species feeding on phytoplankton, but their energy could not be efficiently transferred to higher trophic levels. From the viewpoint of biomass, which is the basis of the food web, and feeding activities, the contributions of each functional group to the ecosystem were evaluated; the seasonal variations, geographical distribution patterns, and species composition of each functional group were analyzed. The average zooplankton biomass was 2.1 g dry wt m(-2) in spring, to which the giant crustaceans, large copepods, and small copepods contributed 19, 44, and 26%, respectively. High biomasses of the large copepods and small copepods were distributed at the coastal waters, while the giant crustaceans were mainly located at offshore area. In summer, the mean biomass was 3.1 g dry wt m(-2), which was mostly contributed by the giant crustaceans (73%), and high biomasses of the giant crustaceans, large copepods, and small copepods were all distributed in the central part of the Yellow Sea. During autumn, the mean biomass was 1.8 g dry wt m(-2), which was similarly constituted by the giant crustaceans, large copepods, and small copepods (36, 33, and 23%, respectively), and high biomasses of the giant crustaceans and large copepods occurred in the central part of the Yellow Sea, while the small copepods were mainly located at offshore stations. The giant crustaceans and large copepods dominated the zooplankton biomass (2.9 g dry wt m(-2)) in winter, contributing respectively 57 and 27%, and they, as well as the small copepods, were all mainly located in the central part of the Yellow Sea. The chaetognaths group was mainly located in the northern part of the Yellow Sea during all seasons, but contributed less to the biomass compared with the other groups. The medusae and salps groups were distributed unevenly, with sporadic dynamics, mainly along the coastline and at the northern part of the Yellow Sea. No more than 10 species belonging to the respective functional groups dominated the zooplankton biomass and controlled the dynamics of the zooplankton community. The clear picture of the seasonal and spatial variations of each zooplankton functional group makes the complicated Yellow Sea ecosystem easier to be understood and modeled. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TCP Control Groups: Aggregated Congestion Control for TCP (MA Thesis)

This thesis presents a framework for aggregated congestion management for TCP flows and shows how to integrate such an approach in an existing TCP protocol stack. The thesis presents an initial implementation of this congestion management scheme in Linux, with performance evaluation in ns as well.

Mistreatment in Distributed Caching Groups: Causes and Implications

Although cooperation generally increases the amount of resources available to a community of nodes, thus improving individual and collective performance, it also allows for the appearance of potential mistreatment problems through the exposition of one node’s resources to others. We study such concerns by considering a group of independent, rational, self-aware nodes that cooperate using on-line caching algorithms, where the exposed resource is the storage of each node. Motivated by content networking applications – including web caching, CDNs, and P2P – this paper extends our previous work on the off-line version of the problem, which was limited to object replication and was conducted under a game-theoretic framework. We identify and investigate two causes of mistreatment: (1) cache state interactions (due to the cooperative servicing of requests) and (2) the adoption of a common scheme for cache replacement/redirection/admission policies. Using analytic models, numerical solutions of these models, as well as simulation experiments, we show that online cooperation schemes using caching are fairly robust to mistreatment caused by state interactions. When this becomes possible, the interaction through the exchange of miss-streams has to be very intense, making it feasible for the mistreated nodes to detect and react to the exploitation. This robustness ceases to exist when nodes fetch and store objects in response to remote requests, i.e., when they operate as Level-2 caches (or proxies) for other nodes. Regarding mistreatment due to a common scheme, we show that this can easily take place when the “outlier” characteristics of some of the nodes get overlooked. This finding underscores the importance of allowing cooperative caching nodes the flexibility of choosing from a diverse set of schemes to fit the peculiarities of individual nodes. To that end, we outline an emulation-based framework for the development of mistreatment-resilient distributed selfish caching schemes.

Notes on the Effect of Different Access Patterns on the Intensity of Mistreatment in Distributed Caching Groups

In this report, we extend our study of the intensity of mistreatment in distributed caching groups due to state interaction. In our earlier work (published as BUCS-TR-2006-003), we analytically showed how this type of mistreatment may appear under homogeneous demand distributions. We provided a simple setting where mistreatment due to state interaction may occur. According to this setting, one or more "overactive" nodes generate disproportionately more requests than the other nodes. In this report, we extend our experimental evaluation of the intensity of mistreatment to which non-overactive nodes are subjected, when the demand distributions are not homogeneous.

Politically motivated former prisoner groups: community activism and conflict transformation

Aims and objectives: This study represents the first sustained quantitative and qualitative attempt to involve both Republicans and Loyalists in an investigation of the impact of imprisonment and the role of politically motivated former prisoners in the process of conflict transformation in Northern Ireland. The overall aim of the project is to examine the ways in which groups of former prisoners are involved in peace-building and conflict transformation work and to evaluate the constraints and impediments placed upon their activities by the effects of the imprisonment process, politically motivated release and residual criminalisation. In pursuing the evaluation of the role of politically motivated former prisoners working within and without their own communities, the research has six specific objectives: To trace the evolution and development of former prisoner groups; To evaluate the impacts of imprisonment and release on the personal lives of former prisoners; To assess the constraints imposed on former prisoners as agents of change by the residual criminalisation arising from their status; To determine the potential of the former prisoner community in challenging intra-community tensions and evaluate their potential and actual contribution to conflict transformation at the inter-community level; To compare and contrast the effectiveness of Loyalist and Republican former prisoners as agents of change within their own communities; To explore the notion of former prisoners as agents of social and communal transformation within broader political processes through grounding the knowledge and practical experience of the former prisoner community within the broader conceptual context of conflict transformation.