Determination of water content using mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometer is used to measure small quantities of water present in different materials. System has been applied in measuring water and gases desorbed from microcircuitry insulation, can also be used with foods, polymeric materials, and organic solvents

Dynamic delta method for trace gas analysis

Method has been developed in which measurements are made only over viscous flow range, eliminating fractionation before the molecular leak and problems due to surface elution

The crisis of social democratic unionism: the opening up of civil society and the prospects for union renewal in the UK, France and Germany

This article defines and explores the crisis of social democratic trade unionism in three countries in western Europe. The authors contend that a particularized form of postwar trade union orientation was socially constructed in Britain, Germany, and France in which a party union nexus gave special privileges to unions in return for compliance with state policies in the national interest. This arrangement has broken down in recent years under the pressure of global product market competition. As a result, trade unions are being forced to adopt alternative strategic orientations, involving both a fracture in the party union nexus and a willingness to work within wider civil society

Beyond ‘Political Economism’: new identities for unions in Western Europe?

This article engages critically with Richard Hyman’s work on union identity and European integration. It includes a sympathetic review of Hyman’s contribution to the debate on these topics over the past two decades, alongside a critique of Hyman’s approach that highlights certain weaknesses and contradictions resulting from his uncritical use of a range of categories and concepts taken from regulation theory. The authors question Hyman’s argument that developments in European unionism can be conceptualised adequately through an analysis of the development and crisis of ‘political economism’: a dominant union identity that Hyman aligns with the development and crisis of Fordism. An alternative model for understanding the reorientation of European unions is presented based on a critical and dialectical conceptualisation of the relationship between unions and capitalist development. This is used to construct a model of contemporary union reorientation along the dimensions of ‘accommodation’ and ‘opposition’ to neoliberalism and to ‘national’ and ‘international’ modes of organisation and mobilisation

On-line mass spectrometric monitoring of the polymerization of a phenolic-resin-based material

Polymerization of phenolic-resin-based materials requires elevated temperatures. The low thermal conductivity of these materials has led to the use of dielectric heating techniques in lieu of standard convection oven heating to obtain a satisfactory cure. The curing rate and therefore the quality of the cured material depends on the heating rate and maximum temperature attained, parameters which are extremely difficult to measure in dielectric heating units. The dielectric curing of these materials was monitored by using a mass spectrometer to measure the partial pressure of phenol in the gas evolved during polymerization. The resulting plots of phenol partial pressure as a function of time have a characteristic shape, and these may be used to indicate the attainment of complete curing. The validity of the mass spectrometric technique was confirmed by chemical analysis of the polymerized samples

Beyond the chains that bind: the political crisis of unions in Western Europe

The dynamics of neo-liberal restructuring have generated serious tensions in the institutional alignments between social democratic political parties and labor unions in Western Europe. This article explores the origins, development and consequences of the resulting political crisis through a detailed analysis of the institutional alignment of parties and unions in Sweden, Germany, UK and France. The authors reject the argument that the changing contours of the party-union nexus can be understood solely on the basis of a rational choice analysis of labor movement actors in favor of an account that also highlights the importance of historical path dependency and ideological orientation. The resulting complexity of union responses to the crisis of the party-union nexus is explored through the construction of a typology that charts union reorientation along the dimensions of accommodation with, or resistance against, neo-liberalism and within and beyond the national political context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Instrumentation for Measurement of Gas Permeability of Polymeric Membranes

A mass spectrometric 'Dynamic Delta' method for the measurement of gas permeability of polymeric membranes has been developed. The method is universally applicable for measurement of the permeability of any gas through polymeric membrane materials. The usual large sample size of more than 100 square centimeters required for other methods is not necessary for this new method which requires a size less than one square centimeter. The new method should fulfill requirements and find applicability for industrial materials such as food packaging, contact lenses and other commercial materials where gas permeability or permselectivity properties are important

Ambient-temperature co-oxidation catalysts

Oxidation catalysts which operate at ambient temperature were developed for the recombination of carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen (O2) dissociation products which are formed during carbon dioxide (CO2) laser operation. Recombination of these products to regenerate CO2 allows continuous operation of CO2 lasers in a closed cycle mode. Development of these catalyst materials provides enabling technology for the operation of such lasers from space platforms or in ground based facilities without constant gas consumption required for continuous open cycle operation. Such catalysts also have other applications in various areas outside the laser community for removal of CO from other closed environments such as indoor air and as an ambient temperature catalytic converter for control of auto emissions