The reinforcement effect was found to be most excellent in the polymer concrete with 10 layers of GFRP sheet reinforcement. The appropriate reinforcement ratio for the GFRP concrete beam suggested by this study was a fiber-reinforced-plastic cross-sectional ratio of 0.007-0.008 for a polymer concrete cross-sectional ratio of 1 (width) : 1.5 (depth). (C) 2010 RG-7112 in vitro Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 119: 3297-3304, 2011″
“Nepenthes pitcher plant species differ in

their prey capture strategies, prey capture rates, and pitcher longevity. In this study, it is investigated whether or not interspecific differences in nutrient sequestration strategy are reflected in the physiology and microstructure of the pitchers themselves. Using a non-invasive technique eFT-508 molecular weight (MIFE),

ion fluxes in pitchers of Nepenthes ampullaria Jack, Nepenthes bicalcarata Hook.f., and Nepenthes rafflesiana Jack were measured. Scanning electron microscopy was also used to characterize the distribution of glandular and other structures on the inner pitcher walls. The results demonstrate that nutrient sequestration strategy is indeed mirrored in pitcher physiology and microstructure. Species producing long-lived pitchers with low prey capture rates (N. ampullaria, N. bicalcarata) showed lower rates of NH(4+) uptake than N. rafflesiana, a species producing short-lived pitchers with high capture rates. Crucially, species dependent upon aquatic commensals (N. ampullaria, N. bicalcarata) actively manipulated

H(+) fluxes to maintain less acid pitcher fluid than found in ‘typical’ species; in addition, these species lacked the lunate cells and epicuticular waxes characteristic of ‘typical’ insectivorous congeners. An unexpected finding was that ion fluxes occurred in the wax-covered, non-glandular zones in N. rafflesiana. The only candidates for active transport of aqueous ions in Ruboxistaurin cell line these zones appear to be the epidermal cells lying beneath the lunate cells, as these are the only sites not visibly coated with epicuticular waxes.”
“A novel soybean oil-based vinyl-containing waterborne polyurethane (VPU) dispersion has been successfully synthesized from toluene 2,4-diisocyanate, dimethylol propionic acid and a 90 : 10 mixture of chlorinated soybean oil-based polyol and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO). Then, a series of VPU/acrylic grafted latices have been prepared by emulsion graft copolymerization of acrylic monomers (40 wt % butyl acrylate and 60 wt % methyl methacrylate) in the presence of the VPU dispersion, using potassium persulfate as an initiator.