356 research outputs found
Phase separation and self-assembly in vitrimers: hierarchical morphology of molten and semi-crystalline polyethylene/dioxaborolane maleimide systems
Vitrimers - a class of polymer networks which are covalently crosslinked and
insoluble like thermosets, but flow when heated like thermoplastics - contain
dynamic links and/or crosslinks that undergo an associative exchange reaction.
These dynamic crosslinks enable vitrimers to have interesting
mechanical/rheological behavior, self-healing, adhesive, and shape memory
properties. We demonstrate that vitrimers can self-assemble into complex meso-
and nanostructures when crosslinks and backbone monomers strongly interact.
Vitrimers featuring polyethylene (PE) as the backbone and dioxaborolane
maleimide as the crosslinkable moiety were studied in both the molten and
semi-crystalline states. We observed that PE vitrimers macroscopically phase
separated into dioxaborolane maleimide rich and poor regions, and characterized
the extent of phase separation by optical transmission measurements. This phase
separation can explain the relatively low insoluble fractions and overall
crystallinities of PE vitrimers. Using synchrotron-sourced small-angle X-ray
scattering (SAXS), we discovered that PE vitrimers and their linear precursors
micro-phase separated into hierarchical nanostructures. Fitting of the SAXS
patterns to a scattering model strongly suggests that the nanostructures -
which persist in both the melt and amorphous fraction of the semi-crystalline
state - may be described as dioxaborolane maleimide rich aggregates packed in a
mass fractal arrangement. These findings of hierarchical meso- and
nanostructures point out that incompatibility effects between network
components and resulting self-assembly must be considered for understanding
behavior and the rational design of vitrimer materials
Avaliação de agroecossistemas em propriedades de produção orgânica no município de Jaguariúna, SP, através de indicadores de sustentabilidade.
A extensão universitária pode dar grande contribuição ao processo de transição da agricultura convencional para modelos de agricultura de base ecológica, que buscam o desenvolvimento sustentável e incorporam princípios e técnicas da Agroecologia. Neste contexto, duas ferramentas vêm sendo associadas com grande eficiência: as metodologias participativas e o uso de indicadores de sustentabilidade. Este trabalho avaliou a sustentabilidade de duas propriedades orgânicas no município de Jaguariúna, através de indicadores construídos e avaliados participativamente. A metodologia empregada permitiu avaliar o estado de cada unidade produtiva, além de classificar a fase de transição agroecológica destas, estabelecendo os gargalos para a sustentabilidade e gerando discussões sobre alternativas que podem embasar seu gerenciamento
Geometric approach to nonvariational singular elliptic equations
In this work we develop a systematic geometric approach to study fully
nonlinear elliptic equations with singular absorption terms as well as their
related free boundary problems. The magnitude of the singularity is measured by
a negative parameter , for , which reflects on
lack of smoothness for an existing solution along the singular interface
between its positive and zero phases. We establish existence as well sharp
regularity properties of solutions. We further prove that minimal solutions are
non-degenerate and obtain fine geometric-measure properties of the free
boundary . In particular we show sharp
Hausdorff estimates which imply local finiteness of the perimeter of the region
and a.e. weak differentiability property of
.Comment: Paper from D. Araujo's Ph.D. thesis, distinguished at the 2013 Carlos
Gutierrez prize for best thesis, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis
201
Desenvolvimento de tecnologias reprodutivas visando o uso de fêmeas e machos infectados com o vírus da artrite encefalite caprina (CAE).
[Reproductive technology development for infected animals at the virus of artrite encefalite goat (CAE)]
Towards a sustainable approach to clustering small-scale farmers to market their agricultural produce
The University of the Philippines Mindanao and Curtin University have been organising small-scale vegetable farmers in Mindanao into cluster marketing groups to improve their access to markets and returns from the sale of their vegetable products using the 8-Step Clustering Approach for Agroenterprise Development developed by the Catholic Relief Services (Philippines). This paper reports on an action research investigation with around 30 marketing clusters. Cluster marketing has led to: better and wider market access, improved prices, reduced costs, improved human capital and social capital, and higher incomes. However, the current process may not lead to sustainable cluster marketing without support and may lead to dependency. This paper discusses strategies to overcome key challenges identified and deficiencies in the current process and suggests changes to the 8-step process so that it may improve the chances of cluster success and sustainability
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