UV‐ignited frontal polymerization of an epoxy resin

By combining frontal polymerization and radical‐induced cationic polymerization, it was possible to cure thick samples of an epoxy monomer bleached by UV light. The effect of the relative amounts of cationic photoinitiator and radical initiator was thoroughly investigated and was related to the front's velocity and its maximum temperature. The materials obtained were characterized by quantitative conversion also in the deeper layers, not reached by UV light. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2066–2072, 2004     

Alpha and deuteron induced reactions on vanadium

The stacked foil technique was used in combination with γ-ray spectroscopy to obtain excitation functions for the production of different nuclei using natural vanadium as target and 85 MeV α-particles and 46.5 MeV deuterons as projectiles. The data are compared with theoretical predictions provided by an equilibrium and pre-equilibrium reaction model. In most cases the theoretical predictions seriously under-estimated the measured cross sections.     

Determination of the atmospheric neutrino spectra with the Fréjus detector

The combined analysis of the final event set of data on neutrino interactions inside the detector, upward going stopping muons and horizontal muons recorded in the Fréjus experiment is presented. The absolute atmospheric neutrino spectra in the energy range for electron neutrinos and for muon neutrinos are determined. Based on the parameterization of Volkova for thev ^µ a spectral index of =2.66±0.05 is obtained from the ratio of horizontal muons over upward going stopping muons and from the measurement of the energy loss of horizontal muons inside the detector. The neutrino spectra are compared with various flux calculations. They do not show any evidence for neutrino oscillations in agreement with earlier analyses of the Fréjus data.Now atUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA     

Minimum blocking configurations

Some results on configurations realizing minimum blocking sets of a finite projective plane are obtained by introducing a suitable attraction property.Dedicated to Professor M. Scafati Tallini on the occasion of her 65th birthday     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 94.1 cogwheel pathway for the stereomutations of durene derivatives containing the mesityl ring

The low-temperature NMR spectra of 1,4-bis(mesitoyl)durene, 1, and of 1,4-bis(mesitylethenyl)durene, 2, reveal the presence of syn and anti rotamers at the equilibrium, their relative proportions depending on the dielectric constant of the solvent. In solution the more stable rotamer of 1 is the anti whereas, in the case of 2, the more stable is the syn. Depending on the crystallization solvent employed the more (anti) and the less stable (syn) rotamers were both observed (X-ray diffraction) in the solid state of 1. On the other hand, only the less stable rotamer (anti) was found to be present in the solid state of 2. As shown by MM calculations, the syn-to-anti interconversion occurs via a correlated process (cogwheel pathway) involving the mesityl-C and durene-C bond rotations: the dynamic NMR technique yields an experimental barrier of 8.2 kcal mol(-)(1) for 1 and 13.1 kcal mol(-)(1) for 2. In the case of derivative 2 a second barrier, due to a second type of correlated rotation process (torsion), was also determined (8.6 kcal mol(-)(1)). As a consequence of the restriction of this second torsional motion the anti rotamer of 2 displays two distinguishable NMR spectra at -133 degrees C, corresponding to a pair of conformers with different symmetry (anti C(i)() and anti C(2)).     

Reaction of thiete 1,1-dioxide with α-chlorobenzalphenylhydrazine and methyl phenylhydrazonochloroacetate

Thiete 1,1-dioxide reacts with 2 moles of α-chlorobenzalphenylhydrazine and methyl phenylhydrazonochloroacetate in the presence of triethylamine leading to the pyrazole derivatives 6 and 7 whose structure and mechanism of formation are discussed.     

Ultrasound effects on the Mn(III) - promoted addition of amidoalkyl radicals to olefins

Amidoalkyl radicals, generated from amides by Mn(OAc)₃ in acetic acid react with phenyl substituted alkenes to generate five-membered lactones or lactams. Ultrasound at ambient temperature significantly accelerates these single electron transfer reactions even when compared with conventional conditions under reflux or simple mechanical stirring. In some cases sonication leads to unusual products.     

Direct minimization of the energy functional in LCAO-MO density matrix formalism I. Closed and open shell systems

A direct method of minimization of the energy expression for closed and open shell systems in LCAO-MO density matrix formalism is presented. The method makes use of a unitary transformation acting directly on the density matrices. Expressions of the gradient and second energy derivatives are worked out. Some preliminary calculations to test the rate of minimization using a variable metric method have been made on H₂S and SO molecules and have given satisfactory results.[/p]     

Within the Ischemic Penumbra,Sub-Cellular Compartmentalization of Heat Shock Protein 70 Overlaps with Autophagy Proteins and Fails to Merge with Lysosomes

The brain area which surrounds the frankly ischemic region is named the area penumbra. In this area, most cells are spared although their oxidative metabolism is impaired. area penumbra is routinely detected by immunostaining of a molecule named Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70). Within the area penumbra, autophagy-related proteins also increase. Therefore, in the present study, the autophagy-related microtubule-associated protein I/II-Light Chain 3 (LC3) was investigated within the area penumbra along with HSP70. In C57 black mice, ischemia was induced by permanent occlusion of the distal part of the middle cerebral artery. Immunofluorescence and electron microscopy show that LC3 and HSP70 are overexpressed and co-localize within the area penumbra in the same cells and within similar subcellular compartments. In the area penumbra, marked loss of co-localization of HSP70 and LC3-positive autophagy vacuoles, with lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1) or cathepsin-D-positive lysosome vacuoles occurs. This study indicates that, within the area penumbra, a failure of autophagolysosomes depends on defective compartmentalization of LC3, LAMP1 and cathepsin-D and a defect in merging between autophagosomes and lysosomes. Such a deleterious effect is likely to induce a depletion of autophagolysosomes and cell clearing systems, which needs to be rescued in the process of improving neuronal survival.