Plane wave expansion and extended plane wave expansion formulations for Mindlin-Reissner elastic metamaterial thick plates

The plane wave expansion (PWE) and the extended plane wave expansion (EPWE) formulations are derived in order to obtain the complex dispersion relation of flexural waves in a metamaterial Mindlin-Reissner thick plate with multiple periodic resonators. These new formulations are useful to obtain more accurate results at higher frequencies than those based on Kirchhoff-Love thin plate theory. Multiple periodic resonators with multiple degrees of freedom (M-DOF) attached to metamaterial thick plates broaden the applications for wave attenuation in high frequencies.     

The meaning of time in the theory of relativity and “Einstein's later view of the Twin Paradox”

The purpose of the present paper is to reply to a misleading paper by M. Sachs entitled Einstein's later view of the Twin Paradox (TP) (Found. Phys. 15, 977 (1985)). There, by selecting some passages from Einstein's papers, he tried to convince the reader that Einstein changed his mind regarding the asymmetric aging of the twins on different motions. Also Sachs insinuates that he presented several years ago convincing mathematical arguments proving that the theory of relativity does not predict asymmetrical aging in the TP. Here we give a definitive treatment to the clocks problem showing that Sachs' convincing mathematical arguments are non sequitur. Also, by properly quoting Einstein, we show that his later view of the TP coincides with the one derived from the rigorous theory of time developed in this paper.     

Real spin-Clifford bundle and the spinor structure of space-time

By analyzing the conditions for the existence on a space-time of a global algebraic spinor field, we prove the following result, known as Geroch's theorem: A necessary and sufficient condition for to admit a spinor structure is that the orthonormal frame bundleF ₀() have a global section. Our proof, which does not use in any stage the complexification of _1,3 (the space-time Clifford algebra), is simple, requiring only the explicit construction of the algebraic spinor and the spinorial metric within _1,3 and elementary facts about associated bundles and the bundle reduction process. This is to be compared with the original proof, which uses the full algebraic topology machinery. We also clarify the relation of the covariant spinor structure and Graf'se-spinor structure.     

New bromotyrosine alkaloids from the marine sponge Psammaplysilla purpurea

Seven new bromotyrosine alkaloids Purpurealidin A, B, C, D, F, G, H and the known compounds Purealidin Q, Purpurealidin E, 16-Debromoaplysamine-4 and Purpuramine I have been isolated from the marine sponge Psammaplysilla purpurea. Their structure was elucidated on the basis of detailed 1D, 2D NMR and MS spectroscopic data. Purpurealidin B, 16-Debromoaplysamine-4 and Purpuramine I exhibited in vitro antimicrobial activities against E. coli, S. aureus, and V. cholerae. In addition, Purpurealidin B and 16-Debromoaplysamine-4 were also active against Shigella flexineri and Salmonella typhi while Purealidin Q was bactericidal only against Salmonella typhi.     

Propane–Propylene Binary Adsorption on Zeolite 4A

In this work we report new experimental data of pure and binary adsorption equilibrium of propane and propylene on zeolite 4A at 423 and 473 K. The pressure range studied was 0–500 kPa, which is the entire pressure range used in PSA–VSA (Pressure–Vacuum Swing Adsorption) units. The amount adsorbed of propane is much higher than that reported in previous literature. Propane diffusivity was estimated from uptake curves in the linear isotherm region. Adsorption of propane was extremely slow and equilibrium was established only after three days of adsorbate–adsorbent contact. The IAST (Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory) using the Generalized Dubinin model to describe the pure propylene equilibrium and the Langmuir model for propane predicted with acceptable accuracy the binary adsorption data. Alternatively, the multisite model of Nitta was used to fit pure component isotherms and used in the IAST. Predictions were worse than those with the other strategy.     

N-Bromosuccinimide assisted oxidation of 5-aminopyrazoles: formation of bis diazenylderivatives

Treatment of 5-amino-4-cyanopyrazoles with N-bromosuccinimide, in DMF at rt gave azo dyes resulting from dimerization through the amino groups and further oxidation.With bromine water the dimer was also formed but, bromination occurred on the aryl ring, either at reflux or rt. Reduction of the azo group with zinc in acetic acid originated the corresponding pyrazoles.     

Multivariate optimization and HS-SPME/GC-MS analysis of VOCs in red, yellow and purple varieties of Capsicum chinense sp. peppers

Peppers are used not only in cookery, but also in many other applications, like cosmetic, pharmaceutical and nourishing industry. The chemical composition of peppers is quite complex and several volatile and non-volatile substances contribute to their flavor, which is an important sensorial propriety. In this work a headspace/solid phase microextraction/gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry method was developed to evaluate the profiles of volatile compounds that contribute to the aroma of red, yellow and purple varieties of Capsicum chinense sp. peppers. The optimization of the extraction conditions was carried out using multivariate strategies such as factorial design and response surface methodology. The GC-MS analysis allowed the tentative identification of 34 compounds, with similarities higher than 85%, in accordance with the NIST mass spectral library. The data obtained by the analysis of volatile compounds, according to the proposed method, were treated with PCA chemometrics tool in order to group different varieties of C. chinense sp. peppers with similar VOC profiles. Amongst the most abundant VOCs, hexyl ester of pentanoic acid, dimethylcyclohexanols, humulene and esters of butanoic acid were found. Principal component analysis turned possible to visualize the grouping tendencies of the studied varieties of pepper, as well as the identification of the volatile compounds responsible for discriminating the three groups. Considering the fact that many species of peppers are used as human food, the significance of this work is further emphasized by its applicability to the study of food quality indicators, and as a tool for investigations on the composition of the pepper sources.     

Cryoelectrochemistry: electrochemical reduction of 2(RS)-methyl 1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-2-iodomethyl-2,5-dihydropyrrole-2-carboxylate

Cryoelectrochemisty with cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry has been applied to give an insight into a reductive pyrroline ring opening reaction, and has allowed the number of electrons participating in the reaction to be deduced from potential step experiments.