Blends of polyamide-6 with acrylic core-shell impact modifiers

Blends of polyamide-6 (PA6) and acrylic core-shell impact modifiers (CSIM) were made by an extruder process as well as a reactor process. On the extruder blends, the impact behaviour was studied as a function of temperature while changing the type of CSIM, the CSIM concentration (0¿40%) and the blending conditions. Reactor blends were prepared from caprolactam/CSIM mixtures via a hydrolytic polymerization process initiated either with water or with aminocapronic acid. The aminocapronic acid-initiated process is faster. The influence of reaction conditions on the deagglomeration of the CSIM, the melt flow index and the impact behaviour of the blends were studied. The degree of grafting of PA6 on the CSIM and the melt rheological behaviour of some samples have been investigated. The CSIM agglomerates were found to be broken up in the caprolactam starting mixture and did not coalesce to bigger particles. With the reactor blend method, often highly viscous melts were obtained. This is probably due to the formation of a comb-like structure of CSIM chains dissolved in caprolactam to which PA6 chains had been grafted

Subword-based Indexing for a Minimal False Positive Rate

Subword-based Indexing for a Minimal False Positive Rat

Phylogeny and historical biogeography of Lauraceae

Phylogenetic relationships among 122 species of Lauraceae representing 44 of the 55 currently recognized genera are inferred from sequence variation in the chloroplast and nuclear genomes. The trnL-trnF, trnT-trnL, psbA-trnH, and rpll6 regions of cpDNA, and the 5' end of 26S rDNA resolved major lineages, while the ITS/5.8S region of rDNA resolved a large terminal lade. The phylogenetic estimate is used to assess morphology-based views of relationships and, with a temporal dimension added, to reconstruct the biogeographic history of the family. Results suggest Lauraceae radiated when trans-Tethyean migration was relatively easy, and basal lineages are established on either Gondwanan or Laurasian terrains by the Late Cretaceous. Most genera with Gondwanan histories place in Cryptocaryeae, but a small group of South American genera, the Chlorocardium-Mezilauruls lade, represent a separate Gondwanan lineage. Caryodaphnopsis and Neocinnamomum may be the only extant representatives of the ancient Lauraceae flora docu- mented in Mid- to Late Cretaceous Laurasian strata. Remaining genera place in a terminal Perseeae-Laureae lade that radiated in Early Eocene Laurasia. Therein, non-cupulate genera associate as the Persea group, and cupuliferous genera sort to Laureae of most classifications or Cinnamomeae sensu Kostermans. Laureae are Laurasian relicts in Asia. The Persea group and Cinnamomum group (of Cinnamomeae) show tropical amphi-Pacific disjunctions here credited to disruption of boreotropical ranges by Eocene-Oligocene climatic cooling. The Ocotea complex accommodates re- maining Cinnamomeae and shows a trans-Atlantic disjunction possibly derived from a Madrean-Tethyan ancestral distribution. These findings support Laurasian ancestry for most extant Lauraceae, with their considerable neotropical representation primarily derived from Early Miocene radiation of the Ocotea complex upon reaching South America

Radio Oranje: Enhanced Access to a Historical Spoken Word Collection

Access to historical audio collections is typically very restricted:\ud content is often only available on physical (analog) media and the\ud metadata is usually limited to keywords, giving access at the level\ud of relatively large fragments, e.g., an entire tape. Many spoken\ud word heritage collections are now being digitized, which allows the\ud introduction of more advanced search technology. This paper presents\ud an approach that supports online access and search for recordings of\ud historical speeches. A demonstrator has been built, based on the\ud so-called Radio Oranje collection, which contains radio speeches by\ud the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina that were broadcast during World War II.\ud The audio has been aligned with its original 1940s manual\ud transcriptions to create a time-stamped index that enables the speeches to be\ud searched at the word level. Results are presented together with\ud related photos from an external database

God\u27s Goodness for the Kingdom

God’s plan for His kingdom has always been far different than human thoughts through the ages have expected, and it will continue to be so. Posting about ­­­­­­­­trusting in God\u27s ways from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/gods-goodness-for-the-kingdom

Technology at Every Moment

We interact with technology every day, every minute, pretty much every second. And on rare occasions, we may stop to ponder how technology is affecting our lives and relationships. Posting about ­­­­­­­­how technology affects the way people relate to each other from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/technology-at-every-moment

Once-For-All Sacrifice

Christ cares about us in spite of our inadequacy; he loves us so much, in fact, that he made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Posting about walking in the joy of Christ\u27s resurrection from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation. http://inallthings.org/once-for-all-sacrifice

Integral Precast Girder-to-Cap Connections for Accelerated Bridge Construction in Seismic Regions

Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) is increasingly desired and needed, due to the aging transportation infrastructure across the United States and the always-growing demand placed on our nation’s highway system. Precast concrete is a common way to incorporate ABC techniques. Advantages over typical cast-in-place concrete methods include speed of field construction, improved quality control, and decrease in detoured traffic during construction, among others. However, precast concrete structures have not been used to their full potential in high seismic regions, due to the deficiency of precast concrete connections in past earthquake events. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is eager to incorporate ABC methods if connections suitable for high seismic regions can be developed. Therefore, a study has been conducted to investigate the inverted-tee cap beam and Ishaped girder bridge system for its viability for implementation by Caltrans. A large-scale experimental investigation of the bridge system was conducted, verifying that the system has excellent potential for such use. The study identified an as-built connection detail that has been previously incorporated by Caltrans as being capable of providing an integral moment girder-to-cap connection. However, the study also introduced an improved connection detail utilizing grouted unstressed strands, similar to those used in post-tensioning applications, that has the promise of providing an even better connection alternative. A follow-up large-scale experimental study was conducted to provide a detailed investigation of the improved detail. In addition, the follow-up study was used to quantify the performance of another new girder-to-cap connection detail utilizing looped strands and dowel bars. Both connection details were verified to be very constructible and to provide excellent seismic performance, even when subjected to vertical acceleration demands significantly beyond typical design recommendations. Along with connection behavior, these experimental studies were used in conjunction with analytical approaches to investigate current approaches related to load distribution in integral bridges. This work showed that current recommendations are overly conservative in the amount of the column seismic moment that is required to be carried by adjacent girders in the superstructure. A better distribution model, based on the relative stiffness of the superstructure components, is proposed that matches well with the analytical and experimental results from this study and three other large-scale experimental seismic studies. Finally, analytical approaches for the incorporation of vertical acceleration effects were considered, and the results were used to verify the observed experimental performance of the proposed girder-to-cap connection details

God is Creation\u27s Second-by-Second Sustainer

... the Psalms clearly indicate God\u27s active hand in creation. Posting about God\u27s orderly care in nature from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/god-is-creations-second-by-second-sustainer