Noise Reduction in Spur Gear Systems

This article lists some tips for reducing gear case noise. With this aim, a static analysis was carried out in order to describe how stresses resulting from meshing gears affect the acoustic emissions. Different parameters were taken into account, such as the friction, material, and lubrication, in order to validate ideas from the literature and to make several comparisons. Furthermore, a coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) analysis was performed, which was an innovative way of evaluating the sound pressure level of the aforementioned gears. Different parameters were considered again, such as the friction, lubrication, material, and rotational speed, in order to make different research comparisons. The analytical results agreed with those in the literature, both for the static analysis and CEL analysis—for example, it was shown that changing the material from steel to ductile iron improved the gear noise, while increasing the rotational speed or the friction increased the acoustic emissions. Regarding the CEL analysis, air was considered a perfect gas, but its viscosity or another state equation could have also been taken into account. Therefore, the above allowed us to state that research into these scientific fields will bring about reliable results.     

Gold-catalyzed intramolecular hydroamination of α-amino allenamides as a route to enantiopure 2-vinylimidazolidinones

An efficient gold-catalyzed procedure for the preparation of 2-vinylimidazolidinones has been developed. The starting materials for the synthesis of these compounds are α-amino allenamides which undergo heterocyclization by means of nucleophilic attack of the amino group on the inside double bond of the 1,2-diene moiety. This is the first example of a gold-catalyzed cyclization on allene substrates bearing an amido group which, however, resulted inactive.     

Influence of the vertical profile of Saharan dust on the visible direct radiative forcing

The vertical profile of Saharan dust in the atmosphere is generally characterized by a large aerosol concentration in the mid troposphere, differently from the climatological distribution of other types of particles, that show a peak at the surface and a rapid decrease with height. Saharan dust is also characterized by particles of relatively large size of irregular shape, and variable values of the single scattering albedo (the ratio between radiation scattering and extinction). The dust's peculiar vertical distribution is expected to produce an effect on the calculation of the direct aerosol radiative forcing at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere. This effect is investigated by comparing estimates of aerosol direct visible radiative forcing at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere for dust vertical profiles measured in the Mediterranean, and for the climatological profile. The radiative forcing is estimated by means of an accurate radiative transfer model, and for the ocean surface. The sensitivity of the results on the solar zenith angle, aerosol optical depth, and aerosol absorption is also investigated. The aerosol radiative forcing at the surface shows a very small dependency on the aerosol vertical profile. At the top of the atmosphere, the radiative forcing is weakly dependent on the vertical profile (up to 10% variation on the daily average forcing) for low absorbing particles; conversely, it shows a strong dependency (the daily radiative forcing may vary up to 100%) for absorbing particles. The top of the atmosphere visible radiative forcing efficiency produced by dust having single scattering albedo <0.7 is higher by 4 W m⁻² when the observed vertical profile instead of the standard profile is used in the calculations (i.e. it produces a lower cooling). For values of the single scattering albedo around 0.67, the sign of the forcing depends on the vertical profile. The influence of the vertical distribution on the radiative forcing is largest at small values of the solar zenith angle, and at short wavelengths.     

Examination of formamide,formamidic acid,amidine dimers,and the double proton transfer transition states involving these dimers

Structures and relative energies were obtained for the hydrogen bonded dimers of formamide and formamidic acid using the 3-21G basis set. A double proton transfer transition state is claimed to link these two dimers. While the structure of the transition state was intermediate between those of the two dimers, the energy was only 7.6 kJ/mol greater than the less stable formamidic acid dimer. The activation energy from the formamide dimer side of the reaction was found to be 125 kJ/mol of dimer. A similar transition state was found for the amidine dimer system. The activation energy for this model reaction was found to be 66.9 kJ/mol of dimer.     

In silico discovery of beta-secretase inhibitors

Alzheimer's disease, the most common amyloid-associated disorder, accounts for the majority of the dementia diagnosed after the age of 60. The cleavage of the beta-amyloid precursor protein is initiated by beta-secretase (BACE-1), a membrane-bound aspartic protease, which has emerged as an important but difficult protein target. Here, an in silico screening approach consisting of fragment-based docking, ligand conformational search by a genetic algorithm, and evaluation of free energy of binding was used to identify low-molecular-weight inhibitors of BACE-1. More than 300,000 small molecules were docked and about 15,000 prioritized according to a linear interaction energy model with evaluation of solvation by continuum electrostatics. Eighty-eight compounds were tested in vitro, and 10 of them showed an IC(50) value lower than 100 microM in a BACE-1 enzymatic assay. Interestingly, the 10 active compounds shared a triazine scaffold. Moreover, four of them were active in an assay with mammalian cells (EC(50) < 20 microM), indicating that they are cell-permeable. Therefore, these triazine derivatives are very promising lead candidates for BACE-1 inhibition. The discoveries of this series and two other series of nonpeptidic BACE-1 inhibitors demonstrate the usefulness of our in silico high-throughput screening approach.     

Role of secondary structure in the asymmetric acylation reaction catalyzed by peptides based on chiral C alpha-tetrasubstituted alpha-amino acids

In a recent series of papers, Miller and co-workers were able to show that His(pi-Me)-based, terminally protected peptides are potent catalysts of the asymmetric acyl transfer reaction, useful for the kinetic resolution of alcohols. In a structure-supporting solvent, one of the most active compounds, an Aib-containing tetrapeptide, is folded in a doubly intramolecularly H-bonded beta-hairpin motif incorporating a type-II' beta-turn conformation. In this work, we have expanded the study of the Miller tetrapeptide by examining a set of analogues and shorter sequences (dipeptide amides), characterized by chiral C(alpha)-tetrasubstituted alpha-amino acids of diverging bulkiness and optical configuration. Peptide synthesis in solution, conformational analysis by FT-IR absorption and (1)H NMR techniques, and screening of catalytic activity as well have been performed. Our results confirm the close relationship between the beta-hairpin 3D-structure and the catalytic activity of the peptides. A tetrapeptide analogue slightly more selective than the Miller compound has been found. However, the terminally protected, industrially more appealing, dipeptide amides are poorly effective.     

A water-mediated tautomerism mechanism in formamide and amidine. An ab initio study

Formamide, formamidic acid, and amidine water complexes were studied using 3-21G fully optimized structures and 6–31G energies. Hydrogen bonding and a water-mediated tautomerism mechanism were examined. The optimized complexes show that relaxation of the monomers has occurred. Hydrogen bond lengths and energies fall within the range of values found using other basis sets and other comparable systems.     

Conformational study of protonated,neutral, and deprotonated formamide

Neutral, protonated, and deprotonated formamide isomers were studied at the 3-21G SCF level with complete geometry optimization. Ten stable structures, ten first-order saddle points, and three second-order saddle points (conformational maxima) are reported. [Total energies are reported in hartrees (1 hartree = 627.51 kcal/mol = 2625.5 kJ/mol) and energy differences are reported in kJ/mol (1 kJ/mol = 0.239 kcal/mol).] Rotational barriers and proton affinities are discussed and compared to isoelectronic amidine species.     

On the importance of spectral responsivity of Robertson-Berger-type ultraviolet radiometers for long-term observations

A system to determine the spectral responsivity of ultraviolet (UV) radiometers has been developed and is routinely operated at the Central Ultraviolet Calibration Facility, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The instrument and the measurement methodologies are described. Results of measurements from thermally controlled broadband UV radiometers of the Robertson-Berger (R-B)-type are described. Systematic differences in the spectral response curves for these instruments have been detected. The effect of these differences on the field operation of UV-B radiometers has been studied by calculating the instrumental response from modeled UV spectra. The differences of the weighted spectral UV irradiances, measured by two radiometers with different spectral response functions, caused by the daily variation in the position of the sun were estimated for fixed values of total ozone, altitude and albedo, and for cloud-free conditions. These differences increase with the solar zenith angle and are as large as 8%. Larger differences in the instrumental response may be produced by ozone variations. Thus, care must be taken when analyzing data from R-B radiometers and comparing results from different instruments. Routine cycling of UV-B radiometers in operative networks without a careful determination of the spectral responsivity, or small drifts of the spectral responsivity, may strongly affect the accuracy of UV radiation measurements and produce an erroneous trend. Because of the possible differences among radiometers, it would not be practical to derive the long-term behavior of UV radiation without routine and thorough characterization of the spectral responsivities of the instruments.     

Chiral sulfamide-catalyzed asymmetric Michael addition of protected 3-hydroxypropanal to β-nitrostyrenes

Organocatalytic asymmetric Michael addition of 3-(OTBS)-propanal to β-nitrostyrenes catalyzed by chiral sulfamides was investigated. Good d.r. (up to 80:20) and excellent enantioselectivities (up to >99% ee) were achieved. Both the N-[(1R,2R)-2-aminocyclohexyl]-N’-(phenylmethyl)sulfamide 7b and the novel chiral N-[(1R,2R)-2-aminocyclohexyl]-N’-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]sulfamide 7a were identified as efficient primary amine organocatalysts.