The possible physical and chemical forces controlling the volume change behavior of kaolinite were ascertained from the sediment volume of kaolinite in various solvents under no external load condition and from conventional oedometer measurements of kaolinite in several pore fluids. The minimum sediment volume of 14.5 cm3/10 g clay occupied by kaolinite in water where repulsive (R) forces were dominant indicated that the R contribution was insignificant for kaolinite. The maximum sediment volume of 25.0 cm3/10 g clay in benzene where coulombic attraction forces were significant suggested that electrostatic attraction between silicate sheets and midplane cations and van der Waals forces were not appreciable for kaolinite. The positive edge-negative face bonding of kaolinite particles in benzene was unlikely because the protons required to impart a positive charge to the edges were not available in the nonpolar solvent. The 3688 cm−1 band in the infrared spectrum of a kaolinite-dimethylamine sample decreased by 10 cm−1 on H-bond formation of the solvent molecule with the exposed structural hydroxyls of the octahedral sheet. The adsorbed solvent molecules likely H-bonded with an adjacent clay particle. That such interparticle H-bonds controlled the sediment volume and interparticle attraction in kaolinite was indicated by the decrease in sediment volume with increase in dipole moment of the solvent molecule, i.e., 25.0 cm3/10 g clay in n-heptane (dipole moment, μ = 0), 23.5 cm3/10 g clay in toluene (μ = 0.36), 17.0 cm3/10 g clay in ethanol (μ = 1.67), and 14.5 cm3/10 g clay in water (μ = 1.84).

In the oedometer tests with various pore fluids, a high void ratio (i.e., volume of voids/volume of solids) of ≈ 1.3 was obtained for kaolinite in n-heptane, and hexane (μ ≅ 0) at an external pressure of 1 kg/cm2 probably because the weakly bonded kaolinite particles were randomly oriented. At the corresponding applied pressure a lower void ratio of 0.88 resulted in water (μ = 1.84) where the stronger hydrogen bond between flat layer surfaces of adjacent particles favored a parallel orientation of clay particles.

The variations in void ratio-external pressure relationship indicated that kaolinite underwent lower compressibility in a solvent with low dipole moment and vice versa. Thus, the interparticle H-bond did not play a significant role in controlling the shear resistance and volume change behavior. The volume change behavior was essentially controlled by frictional forces and clay fabric. In nonpolar solvents the random arrangement of kaolinite particles and the frictional forces mobilized a high shear resistance on the application of a consolidation pressure, resulting in a lower compressibility. In a solvent with high dipole moment the parallel array of clay particles mobilized less shear resistance and produced a greater compression.

The effect of pressure on the unfolding of bovine α-lactalbumin was investigated by ultraviolet absorption methods. The change of molar volume associated with unfolding, ΔV, was measured in the presence or absence of guanidine hydrochloride at pH 7. The ΔV was estimated to be −63 cm3/mol in the absence of a chemical denaturant. While in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl), it was found that ΔV was −66 cm3/mol at 25 °C and was independent of the concentration of GuHCl, despite the fact that the molten globule fraction in the total unfolding product decreased with the increase of GuHCl concentration. The results indicate that the volume of α-lactalbumin only changes at the transition from a native to a molten globule state, and almost no volume change has been found during the transition from a molten globule to the unfolded state.

The dimensional statistics and proximal development characters of the Llanvirnian pendent didymograptid D. murchisoni are defined using the type material from near Builth Wells (Powys) and other collections from Abereiddi Bay (Dyfed). Population variability (as expressed by variation coefficients) in the undeformed faunas amounts to about 10% for the sicula lengths and thecal spacings, but is over 20% (up to 200%) for stipe lengths and divergences. Characters with low variability have greater species-diagnostic value. Proximal development in the species involves a dicalycal th 11 and a low origin for that theca from the sicula. The taxa Didymograptus amplus, D. nanus, D. geminus, D. geminus latus and D. acutus are varieties within populations of D. murchisoni and are therefore junior synonyms.

The resulting rationalised taxonomy allows advances to be made in the use of the species in stratigraphy and tectonics. For example, an occurrence of undeformed (pyritised) D. murchisoni in full relief at Abereiddi in the same beds as flattened and deformed faunas, allows a calculation of the absolute three-dimensional strains to be made for the slates there. The strains are strongly flattening (K < 0 · 3) and involve volume changes of about −56%. The high dilatation values imply that stylolite and grain-boundary pressure solution operated during the deformations to take the changes in volume beyond what is possible with simple compaction (i.e. porosity reduction).