I read this book the same weekend that the Packers took on the Rams, and the experience of the latter event, obviously, colored my judgment. Although I abhor anything that smacks of being a handbook (like, \"How to Earn a Merit Badge in Neurosurgery\") because too many volumes in biomedical science already evince a boyscout-like approach, I must confess that parts of this volume are fast, scholarly, and significant, with certain reservations. I like parts of this well-illustrated book because Dr. Sj6strand, without so stating, develops certain subjects on technique in relation to the acquisition of judgment and sophistication. And this is important! So, given that the author (like all of us) is somewhat deficient in some areas, and biased in others, the book is still valuable if the uninitiated reader swallows it in a general fashion, realizing full well that what will be required from the reader is a modulation to fit his vision, propreception, adaptation and response, and the kind of problem he is undertaking. A major deficiency of this book is revealed by comparison of its use of physics and of chemistry to provide understanding and background for the application of high resolution electron microscopy to problems in biology. Since the volume is keyed to high resolution electron microscopy, which is a sophisticated form of structural analysis, but really morphology in a modern guise, the physical and mechanical background of The instrument and its ancillary tools are simply and well presented. The potential use of chemical or cytochemical information as it relates to biological fine structure , however, is quite deficient. I wonder when even sophisticated morphol-ogists will consider fixation a reaction and not a technique; only then will the fundamentals become self-evident and predictable and this sine qua flon will become less mystical. Staining reactions (the most inadequate chapter) ought to be something more than a technique to selectively enhance contrast of morphological elements; it ought to give the structural addresses of some of the chemical residents of cell components. Is it pertinent that auto-radiography gets singled out for more complete coverage than other significant aspects of cytochemistry by a high resolution microscopist, when it has a built-in minimal error of 1,000 A in standard practice? I don't mean to blind-side (in strict football terminology) Dr. Sj6strand's efforts for what is \"routinely used in our laboratory\"; what is done is usually well done. It's just that …

Methods in Enzymology.

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/files.php?pid=302583&aid=26587

Azole-based energetic salts.

Advances in science and technology of modern energetic materials: an overview.

Plant uptake of organic chemicals is an important process when considering the risks associated with land contamination, the role of vegetation in the global cycling of persistent organic pollutants, and the potential for industrial discharges to contaminate the food chain. There have been some significant advances in our understanding of the processes of plant uptake of organic chemicals in recent years; most notably there is now a better understanding of the air to plant transfer pathway, which may be significant for a number of industrial chemicals. This review identifies the key processes involved in the plant uptake of organic chemicals including those for which there is currently little information, e.g., plant lipid content and plant metabolism. One of the principal findings is that although a number of predictive models exist using established relationships, these require further validation if they are to be considered sufficiently robust for the purposes of contaminated land risk assessment or fo...

Plant uptake of non ionic organic chemicals.

Quantum mechanically determined electrostatic potentials for isosurfaces of electron density of a variety of CHNO explosive molecules are analyzed to identify features that are indicative of sensit...

A quantum mechanical investigation of the relation between impact sensitivity and the charge distribution in energetic molecules

Catalytic effects of nano additives on decomposition and combustion of RDX-, HMX-, and AP-based energetic compositions

This paper provides an overview of the main developments over the past nine years in the study of the sensitivity of energetic materials (EM) to impact, shock, friction, electric spark, laser beams, and heat. Attention is also paid to performance and to its calculation methods. Summaries are provided of the relationships between sensitivity and performance, the best representations for the calculation methods of performance being the volume heat of explosion or the product of crystal density and the square of detonation velocity. On the basis of current knowledge, it is possible to state that a single universal relationship between molecular structure and initiation reactivity does not yet exist. It is confirmed that increasing the explosive strength is usually accompanied by an increase in the sensitivity. In the case of nitramines this rule is totally valid for friction sensitivity, but for impact sensitivity there are exceptions to the rule, and with 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazepane, 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane, β-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane, and the α-, β- and e-polymorphs of 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane the relationship works in the opposite direction. With respect to the QSPR approach there might be reasonably good predictions but it provides little insight into the physics and chemistry involved in the process of initiation.

/pdf/sensitivity-and-performance-of-energetic-materials-wjuhdqoo2c.pdf

Sensitivity and Performance of Energetic Materials

Recent advances in thermal analysis and stability evaluation of insensitive plastic bonded explosives (PBXs)

The article presents a survey of the development trends in studies of sensitivity (initiation reactivity) of energetic materials (EMs) over the last nine years, focusing mainly on impact and shock sensitivities. Attention is given to the initiation by heat, laser, electrostatic discharge, impact and shock, including the influence of hydrostatic compression, crystal defects, molecular structure and desensitizing admixtures on the initiation reactivity. Problems of the initiation of nitromethane are examined with a special accent. It is stated that one of the best-developed theories for such studies is Dlott's Model of the Multiphonon Up-Pumping. Also significant is the model based on Non-Equilibrium Zeldovich–von Neuman–Doring theory. Very important are approaches devised by Politzer and Murray, updated by Price et al. as a hybrid model of prediction of the impact sensitivity of CHNO explosives. The physical organic chemistry approach to the sensitivity problem (POC model) is discussed with special emphasis. In this way it has been found that the electron structure and close neighborhood of the primarily leaving nitro group are dominant factors in the initiation by shock, electric spark and heat of polynitro compounds.

Sensitivities of High Energy Compounds

Over the past 20 years, a number of scientists have conducted numerous fundamental investigations based on quantum chemistry theory into various mechanistic processes that seems to contribute to the sensitivity of energetic materials. A large number of theoretical methods that have been used to predict their mechanical and spark sensitivity are summarized in this article, in which the advantages and disadvantages of these methods, together with their scope of use are clarified. In addition, the theoretical models for thermal stability of explosives are briefly introduced as a supplement. It has been concluded that the current ability to predict sensitivity is merely based on a series of empirical rules, such as simple oxygen balance, molecular properties, and the ratios of C and H to oxygen for different classes of explosive compounds. These are valid only for organic classes of explosives, though some special models have been proposed for inorganic explosives, such as azides. An exact standard for sensitivity should be established experimentally by some new techniques for both energetic compounds and their mixtures. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qua.24209

Svatopluk Zeman

Papers

Catalytic effects of nano additives on decomposition and combustion of RDX-, HMX-, and AP-based energetic compositions

Sensitivity and Performance of Energetic Materials

Recent advances in thermal analysis and stability evaluation of insensitive plastic bonded explosives (PBXs)

Sensitivities of High Energy Compounds

Theoretical evaluation of sensitivity and thermal stability for high explosives based on quantum chemistry methods: A brief review