1,915 research outputs found

    Dr. Miriam McCormick – Faculty Author Interview

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    Dr. Miriam McCormick, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law, discusses her new book, Believing Against the Evidence: Agency and the Ethics of Belief published recently by Routledge. In this book, Dr. McCormick argues that the standards used to evaluate beliefs are not isolated from other evaluative domains. The ultimate criteria for assessing beliefs are the same as those for assessing action because beliefs and actions are both products of agency

    Limiting oxygen index reduction in bitumen modified with nanoclays

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    Organo-modified nanoclays may improve the fire resistance of polymers and bitumen. However, in some cases the nanoclay determines a reduction in the limiting oxygen index (LOI). In polymers, this effect is attributed to an increase of viscosity that limits the dripping of the molten samples during combustion. However, in the case of bitumen this explanation is not sufficient because the reduction is not always associated to high viscosities. In contrast, the mass losses recorded by thermogravimetry in well-defined temperature regions seems to correlate with LOI. Both viscosity and decomposition kinetic of the binders suggest that the nanoclays establish a high degree of interaction with the bitumen, thus determining a significant re-arrangement of its colloidal structure

    [Rezension zu:] Miriam Havemann: The Subject Rising Against its Author

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    Rezension zu Miriam Havemann: The Subject Rising Against its Author. A Poetics of Rebellion in Bryan Stanley Johnson's Oeuvre. Hildesheim/Zürich/New York (Georg Olms Verlag) 2011 (= ECHO - Literaturwissenschaft im interdisziplinären Dialog, Bd. 13). 427 S. Mit der Publikation ihrer in der Bochumer Komparatistik eingereichten Dissertation widmet sich Miriam Havemann einem bis vor wenigen Jahren fast in Vergessenheit geratenen britischen Schriftsteller der 1960er und 1970er Jahre, dessen Arbeiten erst mit dem Erscheinen von Jonathan Coes Biographie 'Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson' (2004) und der Wiederauflage vieler seiner Romane neue Beachtung fanden

    Apparent Molecular Weight Distributions in Bituminous Binders

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    Molecular weight distributions are widely used to evaluate the effects of aging or modifiers in bituminous binders. As with polymers, the most common techniques to obtain the distributions can be subdivided into two main groups, depending on whether or not they use a solvent. In the first group, the dimension of the molecules is evaluated in a diluted unperturbed state, while, in the second, the dimension derives from the bulk, where aggregated or interacting molecules may behave as single entities. However, the calibration curves used in the bulk are tuned in order to homogenize the results derived from the two approaches. This sort of contradiction, plus the high number of experimental uncertainties, suggest that the term “apparent” should be used for both distributions. These aspects are well known in the field of polymers but have received less attention in the case of bitumens, which are even more complex. This paper pinpoints the advantages and disadvantages of the two techniques, thus highlighting the most appropriate use. Bulk methods are preferred when evaluating properties that are strictly dependent on the microstructure, such as the level of aging and the effects of additives or modifiers. Diluted methods should be used when the molecular size matters, such as in quantifying the presence of polymers or rejuvenators. Both techniques should be used for comparative studies only

    Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal collection 1878-2009 1927-1975, 1995-2003

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    The collection includes memoirs, poems, notes, correspondence, photographs and clippings pertaining to Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal, to her husband Peter and to her mother Ilse Blumenthal-Weiss. Materials concentrate on the 1940s, when Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal and her mother Ilse Blumenthal-Weiss lived in Amsterdam and New York, as well as on correspondence from the 1950s and 1960s.Four extensive manuscripts of a doctoral dissertation on the poet Ilse-Blumenthal-Weiss by Beatrix Marguerre Pollack in addition to background information on the author have been removed to the LBI Manuscript Collection (The doctoral dissertation was published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich, 1994.)Books from the private library of Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal, pertaining to German literature and German-Jewish topics, including signed copies by Hermann Hesse, Rainer Maria Rilke, Nelly Sachs and others, have been removed to the LBI Library.Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal was born on March 7, 1927, the daughter of Ilse Blumenthal-Weiss and Herbert Blumenthal. The Blumenthal-Weiss family lived in Berlin until 1937, when the parents, their daughter Miriam and her older brother Peter emigrated to Holland. Herbert, who was a dentist, and Peter Blumenthal were deported to Mauthausen and Auschwitz concentration camps and killed. Ilse and Miriam survived Westerbork and Theresienstadt concentration camps. In 1947 they immigrated to the United States.Ilse Blumenthal-Weiss started writing poetry as a child. She was a successful writer, who published several books and exchanged letters with, among others, Rainer Maria Rilke and with her friends Nelly Sachs and Hermann Hesse.Miriam Merzbacher-Blumenthal married Peter Merzbacher in the late 1940s.The couple had two children and lived in New York City until 1961 before moving to Connecticut. Peter Merzbacher was born on December 4, 1910 in Nuremberg, Germany. Most of his family lived in Nuremburg and Munich. After emigrating from Nazi-Germany in 1936, Peter lived in Brazil for 10 years before immigrating to the United States.Finding aid available online.See also the Ilse Blumenthal-Weiss collection, AR 1020.Processeddigitize

    Glycidyl Azide-butadiene Block Copolymers: Synthesis from the Homopolymers and a Chain Extender

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    Glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) is an “energetic” alternative to hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), but has poorer mechanical properties. Since HTPB-GAP mechanical blends are markedly biphasic, the use of block copolymers may be the solution to join the advantages of both. The copolymers were synthesized from the homopolymers by using two chain extenders: hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and adipoyl chloride (AdCl). Both reagents gave homogeneous and stable polymeric mixtures, but with HDI there are risks of gelation during reaction. Therefore, the product obtained with AdCl is the best candidate to be used as binder or as compatibilizer in GAP-HTPB mechanical blends

    Wood Residue-Derived Biochar as a Low-Cost, Lubricating Filler in Poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) Biocomposites

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    This study focused on the development of a novel biocomposite material formed by a thermoplastic biodegradable polyester, poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA), and a carbonaceous filler as biochar (BC) derived by the pyrolysis of woody biomass waste. Composites with various BC contents (5, 10, 15, and 20 wt.%) were obtained by melt extrusion and investigated in terms of their processability, thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties. In all the composites, BC lowered melt viscosity, behaving as a lubricant, and enhancing composite extrudability and injection moulding at high temperatures up to 20 wt.% of biochar. While the use of biochar did not significantly change composite thermal stability, it increased its stiffness (Young modulus). Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) revealed the presence of a second crystal phase induced by the filler addition. Furthermore, results suggest that biochar may form a particle network that hinders polymer chain disentanglement, reducing polymer flexibility. A biochar content of 10 wt.% was selected as the best trade-off concentration to improve the composite processability and cost competitiveness without compromising excessively the tensile properties. The findings support the use of biochar as a sustainable renewable filler and pigment for PBSA. Biochar is a suitable candidate to replace more traditional carbon black pigments for the production of biodegradable and inexpensive innovative PBSA composites with potential fertilizing properties to be used in agricultural applications
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