Potassium Fluoride Promoted Reaction of 3-Acylsubsti-Tuted 2H-1-Benzopyran-2-Ones with Acid Anhydrides. An Improved Method for the Synthesis of 4-(2-Oxoalkyl)-2H-Chroman-2-Ones. Part III1

The reaction of 3-acylsubstituted 2H-1-benzo-pyran-2-ones 1, 5 and 11a-c with acid anhydrides in the presence of potassium fluoride (KF)/molecular sieves 4A gives the 4-(2-oxoalkyl)-2-oxochromans 2, 6 and 12a-c as the main products. Also the 3-carboxylic acid derivatives, such as esters and N,N-dialkylamides, of 2H-1-benzopyran-2-one (11d-g) react with isobutyric acid anhydride in the presence of KF/molecular sieves 4A to give the corresponding 2-oxochroman-4-acetic acid derivatives.     

ATR/FTIR characterization of Steinernema glaseri and Heterorhabditis indica

The use of Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflection for characterizing entomopathogenic nematodes is evaluated for the first time. The resulting spectra of Steinernema glaseri and Heterorhabditis indica were compared with the spectrum of Caenorhabditis elegans. In the absorption spectra generated by the nematodes samples, the absorption bands were assigned to the molecular species and some important components were identified including triglycerides, trehalose, glycogen and collagen. Also, the use of star diagrams for the fingerprint section of nematode spectra for separating genera is discussed.     

Study of Blood Porphyrin Spectral Profile for Diagnosis of Chronic Renal Failure

The progression to end-stage renal failure is independent of the initial pathogenic mechanism. Metabolic acidosis is a common consequence of chronic renal failure that results from inadequate ammonium excretion and decreased tubular bicarbonate reabsorption. Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) is the immediate metabolic precursor of the heme molecule. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of erythrocytes protoporphyrin IX at an animal model during progressive renal disease. A total of 36 eight-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into six groups: Normal, 4 and 8 weeks after 5/6 nephrectomy (NX). Renal function was evaluated by creatinine clearance and plasma creatinine levels. The autofluorescence of erythrocytes porphyrin of healthy and NX rats was analyzed using fluorescence spectroscopy. Emission spectra were obtained by exciting the samples at 405 nm. Significant differences between normal and NX rats autofluorescence shape occurred in the 600–700 nm spectral region. A correlation was observed between emission band intensity at 635 nm and progression of renal disease.     

Thermal analysis of the combustion of charcoals from Eucalyptus dunnii obtained at different pyrolysis temperatures

DSC and TG/DTA were used to study charcoals obtained from eucalyptus wood at different pyrolysis temperatures, as well as the exchanged energy, and the transformations involved during the pyrolysis process. Charcoals DSC curves showed two exothermic peaks, at ~610 and ~750 K. The first peak was squashed for those charcoals obtained at higher final pyrolysis temperatures, and it disappeared in the charcoals obtained at 873 and 923 K. The second peak intensity increased and its location changed at the higher temperatures. Charcoal characterization showed a rise of heat values with the pyrolysis temperature.     

A comparative study of threshold effects in the energy loss moments of protons,electrons and positrons using dielectric models for band-gap materials

A comparative study of the energy loss, mean free path and straggling of protons, positrons and electrons in an electron gas is performed using three dielectric models which represent the case of metals (Lindhard model for a free electron gas) and the cases of semiconductors and insulators (Levine and Louie model and Brandt and Reinheimer model for systems with a band gap). The properties of individual and collective contributions according to each model and for each of the particles are analyzed. In particular, the effects produced by the band gap of the material and by the properties of the incident particle are analyzed in detail. Significant differences related to the mass and to the indistinguishability (in the case of electrons) are described. Analytical expressions for the high-energy limit are derived in a simple way using the plasmon-pole approximation.     

Optimal regularity for the Signorini problem

We prove under general assumptions that solutions of the thin obstacle or Signorini problem in any space dimension achieve the optimal regularity C ^1,1/2. This improves the known optimal regularity results by allowing the thin obstacle to be defined in an arbitrary C ^1,β hypersurface, β > 1/2, additionally, our proof covers any linear elliptic operator in divergence form with smooth coefficients. The main ingredients of the proof are a version of Almgren’s monotonicity formula and the optimal regularity of global solutions.     

Bifurcations in a forced softening duffing oscillator

The response of a damped Duffing oscillator of the softening type to a harmonic excitation is analyzed in a two-parameter space consisting of the frequency and amplitude of the excitation. An approximate procedure is developed for the generation of the bifurcation diagram in the parameter space of interest. It is a combination of second-order perturbation solutions of the system in the neighborhood of its non-linear resonances and Floquet analysis. The results show that the proposed scheme is capable of predicting symmetry-breaking and period-doubling bifurcations as well as Jumps to either bounded or unbounded motions. The results obtained are validated using analogand digital-computer simulations, which show chaos and unbounded motions, among other behaviors.