Effect of compatibilization on the photo-oxidation behaviour of polyethylene/polyamide 6 blends and their nanocomposites
Abstract Polymer based nanocomposites are increasingly attracting interest from academia and industry, and the use of polymer blends as matrices greatly increase their potential field of application. In order to improve their characteristics, the use of compatibilizers acting on the blend components is mandatory. However, this also leads to rising concerns regarding the behaviour of polymer blend based nanocomposites upon being subjected to photo-oxidative degradation. It is known that morphology can deeply influence the photo-oxidative behaviour, and this can be therefore deeply influenced by the blend components and by the use of compatibilizers. In this work, polymer blend nanocomposites…
A new voice from Sardinia: Uromenus annae (Targioni-Tozzetti, 1881 (Insecta: Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Bradyporinae: Ephippigerini)
Recent findings of the Sardinian endemic Bushcricket Uromenus annae (Targioni Tozzetti, 1881) allowed the authors to retrace the nomenclatorial history of the species. The rearing of living specimens resulted in the recording of the male song, previously unknown. Since the Neotype previously established by Fontana & Buzzetti (2001) is lost, a new Neotype is here designated. Affinities with other congeneric species are discussed.
New and little known species of genusSteropleurusBolivar 1878, from Libya (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Ephippigerinae)
The authors update the knowledge of genus Steropleurus in Libya, reporting new records of S. innocentii innocentii and S. filenorum, and describing a new species, S. ientilei, from Cyrenaica.
The Embioptera from the Strait of Sicily Islands: first records from Pantelleria and Lampedusa and new data from Lampione (Sicily, Italy)
The occurrence of Embioptera in the Strait of Sicily islands was up to date known only from Lam pione (the smallest of the Pelagie islands), where the only species reported was provisionally assigned to Embia ramburi Rimski-Korsakow, 1905. Based on material recently collected by the authors, the presence of Embioptera is here reported for the first time in the Islands of Pantelleria (Sicily, Trapani) and Lampedusa (Sicily, Agrigento). In the Island of Pantelleria the occurrence of the typical small silky tunnels produced by Embioptera has been verified in many sites, from sea level to Montagna Grande (836 m). In many of these sites, several juveniles and some adult or subadult specimens wer…
A new rare species of Oedipoda Latreille, 1829 (Orthoptera: Acrididae) from South Italy
Oedipoda cynthiae n. sp. (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Oedipodinae) is described from Apulia (South Italy). In the past, the same population here considered had been assigned to O. miniata and later to O. charpentieri. Morphological features, biogeographical considerations, and a preliminary molecular analysis confirm that this population must be assigned to a new species, which is described and illustrated here.
Orientation induced brittle – Ductile transition in a polyethylene/polyamide 6 blend
Abstract Polyamide/polyolefin blends are of scientific and technological interest but, on the other hand, the different chemical nature of the two components makes them incompatible, resulting in unsatisfactory physical properties and making compatibilization necessary. In particular, although the two components are ductile, the binary blends can show brittle behaviour. It is also known that the effect of the elongational flow (and then of the induced orientation) on polymer blends is a decrease of elongation at break with increase of the degree of orientation. In this work, the effect of orientation on the mechanical properties of a low density polyethylene/polyamide 6 incompatible blend w…
Supraspecific taxonomy of Palaearctic Platycleidini with unarmed prosternum: a morphological approach (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Tettigoniinae)
Authors analysed 33 supraspecific taxa of Palaearctic Platycleidini with unarmed prosternum, most of them hitherto considered genera or subgenera of Platycleis and Metrioptera. For each of them they give a short description of the characters revealing the correct classification of males and females. Then, they propose a more consistent classification, when both males and females of a supraspecific taxon are clearly distinct, they should be elevated to distinct genera. On the whole, they propose to classify Palaearctic taxa into 32 genera, for which they propose a key based on the characters used in this paper and illustrated by 140 photographs. Additionally, they describe the following new …
“Compatibilization” through Elongational Flow Processing of LDPE/PA6 Blends
Polyamide/polyolefin blends have gained attention from the academia and the industry for several years. However, in order to optimize their properties, some drawbacks such as chemical incompatibility must be adequately overcome. This can be done by adding suitable compatibilizers. On the other hand, it is less known that suitable processing techniques may also lead to significant results. In a previous work on a low-density polyethylene/polyamide 6 (LDPE/PA6) blend, we found that the orientation due to elongational flow processing conditions could lead to an unexpected brittle&ndash
RICORDANDO ANTONIO GALVAGNI (Rovereto, 25 maggio 1924 - 30 aprile 2015)
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A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic genus Roeseliana (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Tettigoniinae: Platycleidini): a case of ongoing Mediterranean speciation
The genus Roeseliana presently includes 10 specific or subspecific taxa, but following different authors some of them are considered synonyms. However, the authors who have treated these taxa often did not agree with the synonymies, in particular, concerning some taxa, such as R. fedtschenkoi (Saussure, 1874) and R. roeselii (Hagenbach, 1822). The present authors examined hundreds of specimens of different taxa, for the first time were able to obtain the translation from the Russian of the description of R. fedtschenkoi, compared the main morphological characters used to discriminate different taxa, biometrics, bioacoustics and genetics of some taxa. This allowed them to conclude that it is…
New and little known species of the genus Parapholidoptera Maran (Insecta, Orthoptera)
Material of species of the genus Parapholidoptera Maran is presented. New records of P. noxia (Ramme) are reported from Georgia, P. georgiae sp. n. from Georgia and P. kalashiani sp. n. from Armenia are described. P. syriaca is newly reported from Lebanon. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Nuovi dati sulla distribuzione in Italia di alcuni Ortotteri (Orthoptera, Ensifera, Caelifera)
Orthoptera,Vengono riportati nuovi dati sulla distribuzione in Italia di 10 specie di Ortotteri (5 Tettigoniidae, 2 Gryllidae e 3 acrididae), non segnalate in precedenza per alcune regioni o poco note.