Thermal,morphostructural and spectrometric characterization of an antibacterial kaolinite-based filter modified with silver for water treatment

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The aim of this work is to synthesize and characterize a new structured silver–clay dried, calcined or sintered at different temperatures...     

Recent advances in electrochemical water technologies for the treatment of antibiotics: A short review

This short review presents a critical overview of the most recent works published in the literature related to the use of electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) for the treatment of antibiotics present in synthetic and real wastewaters. The first section focuses on novelties within the traditional EAOPs, including electrochemical oxidation and electrochemical Fenton-based processes. The second section is devoted to new electrochemical technologies, including heterogeneous electro-Fenton, electrochemically activated persulfate processes, and combined processes. Future perspectives about these processes are also presented to aid the continuous evolution of research in the area.     

Bioactive Compounds from Pale Ale Beer Powder Attenuate Experimental Colitis in BALB/c Mice

Phenolic compounds (PCs) present in foods are associated with a decreased risk of developing inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to extract and characterize PCs from craft beer powder and evaluate their potential benefits in an experimental model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). PCs were extracted and quantified from pure beer samples. BALB/c mice received either the beer phenolic extract (BPE) or beer powder fortified with phenolic extract (BPFPE) of PCs daily for 20 days by gavage. Colon samples were collected for histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mice lost more weight, had reduced colon length, and developed more inflammatory changes compared with DSS-induced mice treated with either BPE or BPFPE. In addition, in DSS-induced mice, the densities of CD4- and CD11b-positive cells, apoptotic rates, and activation of NF-κB and p-ERK1/2 MAPK intracellular signaling pathways were higher in those treated with BPE and BPFPE than in those not treated. Pretreatment with the phenolic extract and BPFPE remarkably attenuated DSS-induced colitis. The protective effect of PCs supports further investigation and development of therapies for human IBD.     

Integer programming models and linearizations for the traveling car renter problem

The traveling car renter problem (CaRS) is an extension of the classical traveling salesman problem (TSP) where different cars are available for use during the salesman’s tour. In this study we present three integer programming formulations for CaRS, of which two have quadratic objective functions and the other has quadratic constraints. The first model with a quadratic objective function is grounded on the TSP interpreted as a special case of the quadratic assignment problem in which the assignment variables refer to visitation orders. The second model with a quadratic objective function is based on the Gavish and Grave’s formulation for the TSP. The model with quadratic constraints is based on the Dantzig–Fulkerson–Johnson’s formulation for the TSP. The formulations are linearized and implemented in two solvers. An experiment with 50 instances is reported.     

Harmonic forms on manifolds with non-negative Bakry–Émery–Ricci curvature

In this paper we prove that on a complete smooth metric measure space with non-negative Bakry–Émery–Ricci curvature if the space of weighted L ² harmonic one-forms is non-trivial, then the weighted volume of the manifold is finite and the universal cover of the manifold splits isometrically as the product of the real line with a hypersurface.     

The DuBois–Reymond Fundamental Lemma of the Fractional Calculus of Variations and an Euler–Lagrange Equation Involving Only Derivatives of Caputo

Derivatives and integrals of noninteger order were introduced more than three centuries ago but only recently gained more attention due to their application on nonlocal phenomena. In this context, the Caputo derivatives are the most popular approach to fractional calculus among physicists, since differential equations involving Caputo derivatives require regular boundary conditions. Motivated by several applications in physics and other sciences, the fractional calculus of variations is currently in fast development. However, all current formulations for the fractional variational calculus fail to give an Euler–Lagrange equation with only Caputo derivatives. In this work, we propose a new approach to the fractional calculus of variations by generalizing the DuBois–Reymond lemma and showing how Euler–Lagrange equations involving only Caputo derivatives can be obtained.     

Influence of stereoelectronic effects on the 1JC─F spin–spin coupling constant in fluorinated heterocyclic compounds

The Perlin effect and its analog for fluorinated compounds (the fluorine Perlin-like effect) manifest on one-bond C─H (C─F for the fluorine Perlin-like effect) spin–spin coupling constants (SSCCs) in six-membered rings. These effects can be useful to probe the stereochemistry (axial or equatorial) of the C─H and C─F bonds, respectively. The origin of these effects has been debatable in the literature as being due to hyperconjugative interactions, dipolar effects, and induced current density. Accordingly, a variety of model compounds has been used to probe such effects since the cyclohexanone carbonyl group and the endocyclic heteroatom lone pairs play different roles on the above-mentioned effects. Thus, the ¹J_C─F SSCC in fluorinated lactams and lactones were theoretically studied to gain further insight on the nature of the fluorine Perlin-like effect. In addition, because the intramolecular α-effect has recently gained attention for its importance in the reactivity and stereoelectronic interactions in peroxide compounds, some fluorinated 1,2-dioxanes and 1,2-dithianes were studied to evaluate the role of the α-effect on the behavior of ¹J_C─F SSCCs. Differently from fluorinated ketones and ethers, the fluorine Perlin-like effect in the amides and esters cannot be explained by hyperconjugative or dipolar interactions alone, because the resonance in these groups affect the ¹J_C─F values. The O─O and S─S-containing systems exhibit a strong fluorine Perlin-like effect, but unlike the α-effect, this behavior cannot be explained neither by hyperconjugation nor by dipolar interactions alone; the spatial proximity of the C─F and O─O/S─S bonds is proposed to affect the magnitude of the ¹J_C─F SSCC.     

“Living” Free Radical Polymerization in Tubular Reactors. I. Modeling of the Complete Molecular Weight Distribution Using Probability Generating Functions

This is the first of a series of works aiming at developing a tool for designing “living” free radical polymerization processes in tubular reactors, in order to achieve tailor‐made MWDs. A mathematical model of the nitroxide‐mediated controlled free radical polymerization is built and implemented to predict the complete MWD. It is shown that this objective may be achieved accurately and efficiently by means of the probability generating function (pgf) transformation. Comparison with experimental data is good. The potential of the resulting model for optimization activities involving the complete MWD is also shown.