Factors affecting the demand for softwood lumber in the united states

This study sets out to examine whether the demand for softwood lumber in the United States is responsive to various market factors including the price of softwood lumber, the price of other building materials, and the level of economic activity (e.g. housing starts). Concern in the analysis is focused on overcoming some of the methodological shortcomings found in previous studies of this issue. The results are conclusive. The quantity of softwood lumber demanded does respond to the various economic factors considered. Moreover, when the structural stability of the estimated relationships is investigated, the results suggest that the demand for softwood lumber regionally in the United States has remained unaltered over the sample period (1950–1985).     

Purification and characterization of recombinant human renin for X-ray crystallization studies

Background  

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAS) cascade is a major target for the clinical management of hypertension. Although inhibitors of various components of this cascade have been developed successfully, development of renin inhibitors has proven to be problematic. The development of these inhibitors has been hindered by poor bioavailability and complex synthesis. However, despite the challenges of designing renin inhibitors, the enzyme remains a promising target for the development of novel treatments for hypertension. X-ray crystallographic data could greatly assist the design and development of these inhibitors. Here we describe the purification and characterization of recombinant human renin for x-ray crystallization studies.     

The localized electrons detector as an ab initio representation of molecular structures

The local single particle momentum is proposed as a localized‐electrons detector (LED) that provides a direct three‐dimensional representation of bonding interactions in molecules. It is given exclusively in terms of the electron density and its gradient. We show that the graphical representation of bonding interactions given by LED is consistent with the local curvatures of the electron density as given by the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix, according to a local symmetry classification of the critical points here introduced. LED consistently complements the topological analysis of the electron density given by the quantum theory of atoms in molecules, by providing a graphical representation of the symmetry of the bonding interactions in molecular systems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 110:2418–2425, 2010     

Circular dichroism, optical rotation and absolute configuration of 2-cyclohexenone-cis-diol type phenol metabolites: redefining the role of substituents and 2-cyclohexenone conformation in electronic circular dichroism spectra

The absolute configurations of 2-cyclohexenone cis-diol metabolites resulting from the biotransformation of the corresponding phenols have been determined by comparison of their experimental and calculated circular dichroism spectra (TDDFT at the PCM/B2LYP/Aug-cc-pVTZ level), optical rotations (calculated at the PCM/B3LYP/Aug-cc-pVTZ level) and by stereochemical correlation. It is found that circular dichroism spectra and optical rotations of 2-cyclohexenone derivatives are strongly dependent on the ring conformation (M or P sofa S(5) or half-chair), enone non-planarity and the nature and positions of the hydroxy and alkyl substituents. The effect of non-planarity of the enone chromophore, including the distortion of the C=C bond, is determined for the model structures by TDDFT calculations at the PCM/B2LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) level. Non-planarity of the C=C bond in the enone chromophore is commonly encountered in 2-cyclohexenone derivatives and it is a source of significant rotatory strength contribution to the electronic circular dichroism spectra. It is shown that the two lowest-energy transitions in acrolein and 2-cyclohexenone and its derivatives are n(C=O)-π(C=O)* and π(C=C)-π(C=O)*, as expected, while the shorter-wavelength (below 200 nm) transitions are of more complex nature. In 2-cyclohexenone and its alkyl derivatives it is predominantly a mixture of π(C=C)-π(C=C)* and π(C=C)-σ* transitions, whereas the presence of hydroxy substituent results in a dominant contribution due to the n(OH)-π(C=O)* transition. A generalized model for correlation of the CD spectra of 2-cyclohexenones with their structures is presented.     

Hyperaromatic stabilization of arenium ions

Benzene-cis- and trans-1,2-dihydrodiols undergo acid-catalyzed dehydration at remarkably different rates: k(cis)/k(trans) = 4500. This is explained by formation of a β-hydroxycarbocation intermediate in different initial conformations, one of which is stabilized by hyperconjugation amplified by an aromatic no-bond resonance structure (HOC(6)H(6)(+) ? HOC(6)H(5) H(+)). MP2 calculations and an unfavorable effect of benzoannelation on benzenium ion stability, implied by pK(R) measurements of -2.3, -8.0, and -11.9 for benzenium, 1-naphthalenium, and 9-phenanthrenium ions, respectively, support the explanation.     

New analysis procedure for fast and reliable size measurement of nanoparticles from atomic force microscopy images

Accurate size measurement during nanoparticle production is essential for the continuing innovation, quality and safety of nano-enabled products. Size measurement by analysing a number of separate particles individually has particular advantages over ensemble methods. In the latter case nanoparticles have to be well dispersed in a fluid and changes that may occur during analysis, such as agglomeration and degradation, will not be detected which could lead to misleading results. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) allows imaging of particles both in air and liquid, however, the strong interactions between the probe and the particle will cause the broadening of the lateral dimension in the final image. In this paper a new procedure to measure the size of spherical nanoparticles from AFM images via vertical height measurement is described. This procedure will quickly analyse hundred of particles simultaneously and reproduce the measurements obtained from electron microscopy (EM). Nanoparticles samples that were difficult, if not impossible, to analyse with EM were successfully measured using this method. The combination of this procedure with the use of a metrological AFM moves closer to true traceable measurements of nanoparticle dispersions.     

Strain-induced pseudo-magnetic fields and charging effects on CVD-grown graphene

Atomically resolved imaging and spectroscopic characteristics of graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper are investigated by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS). For CVD-grown graphene remaining on the copper substrate, the monolayer carbon structures exhibit ripples and appear strongly strained, with different regions exhibiting different lattice structures and electronic density of states (DOS). In particular, ridges appear along the boundaries of different lattice structures, which exhibit excess charging effects. Additionally, the large and non-uniform strain induces pseudo-magnetic field up to ~ 50 T, as manifested by the DOS peaks at quantized energies that correspond to pseudo-magnetic field-induced integer and fractional Landau levels. In contrast, for graphene transferred from copper to SiO₂ substrates after the CVD growth, the average strain on the whole diminishes, so do the corresponding charging effects and pseudo-magnetic fields except for sample areas near topological defects. These findings suggest feasible nano-scale “strain engineering” of the electronic states of graphene by proper design of the substrates and growth conditions.     

Global approximations to the principal real-valued branch of the Lambert W-function

W(z) is defined implicitly as the root of W exp(W) = z. It is shown that a simple analytic approximation has a relative error of less than 5% over the whole domain z ε [−exp(−1), ∞] of the principle branch—sufficiently accurate so that four Newton iterations refine this approximation to a relative error smaller than 1.E-12. As a second form of global approximation, the W-function is expanded as a series of rational Chebyshev functions TB_j in a shifted, logarithmic coordinate with an error that decreases exponentially fast with the series truncation.     

Grothendieck space ideals and weak continuity of polynomials on locally convex spaces

We introduce the classes of locally convex spaces with the local Dunford-Pettis property and locally dual Schur spaces. We examine their properties and their relationship to other classes of locally convex spaces. In the class of locally convex spaces with the local Dunford-Pettis property all polynomials are weakly sequentially continuous whereas in the class of locally dual Schur spaces all polynomials are weakly continuous on bounded sets.