Three new monoterpene indole alkaloids from Psychotria umbellata Thonn.

Three new psychollatine-derived monoterpene indole alkaloids were obtained from Psychotria umbellata Thonn.: 3,4-Dehydro-18,19-β-epoxy-psychollatine (2), N⁴-[1-((R)-2-hydroxypropyl)]-psychollatine (3), and N⁴-[1-((S)-2-hydroxypropyl)]-psychollatine (4). Their structures were determined by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra, 2D correlations (COSY, HMQC, and HMBC), and mass and UV spectra. Compounds 3 and 4 were synthesized for structural confirmation and for the determination of the stereochemistry of the hydroxyl group.     

An Insight into Kiwiberry Leaf Valorization: Phenolic Composition,Bioactivity and Health Benefits

During kiwiberry production, different by-products are generated, including leaves that are removed to increase the fruit’s solar exposure. The aim of this work was to extract bioactive compounds from kiwiberry leaf by employing microwave-assisted extraction (MAE). Compatible food solvents (water and ethanol) were employed. The alcoholic extract contained the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents (629.48 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of plant material on dry weight (dw) (GAE/g dw) and 136.81 mg of catechin equivalents per gram of plant material on dw (CAE/g dw), respectively). Oppositely, the hydroalcoholic extract achieved the highest antioxidant activity and scavenging activity against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (IC₅₀ = 29.10 μg/mL for O₂^•−, IC₅₀ = 1.87 μg/mL for HOCl and IC₅₀ = 1.18 μg/mL for ^•NO). The phenolic profile showed the presence of caffeoylquinic acids, proanthocyanidin, and quercetin in all samples. However, caffeoylquinic acids and quercetin were detected in higher amounts in the alcoholic extract, while proanthocyanidins were prevalent in the hydroalcoholic extract. No adverse effects were observed on Caco-2 viability, while the highest concentration (1000 µg/mL) of hydroalcoholic and alcoholic extracts conducted to a decrease of HT29-MTX viability. These results highlight the MAE potentialities to extract bioactive compounds from kiwiberry leaf.     

Rheological properties of paraffin suspensions of surface-modified alumina powder for low-pressure injection moulding

Due to the hygroscopic nature of fine alumina powders, the presence of water may have a detrimental effect on the rheological properties of a suspension in melted paraffin for low-pressure injection moulding (LPIM). For this reason, a modification of the powder surface from hydrophilic to hydrophobic is essential for the production of high-quality moulded ceramics. In our paper, the efficiency of the application and the chemisorption of protective monomolecular layers of a long-chain carboxylic acid or its salts will be presented. The effect of the powder treatment on the shear viscosity and the viscoelastic properties of the suspensions for LPIM as well as on their stability in terms of the detrimental effect of water will be discussed.This paper was presented at the first Annual European Rheology Conference (AERC) held in Guimarães, Portugal, September 11-13, 2003.     

Structural assessment under uncertain parameters via interval analysis

An efficient health monitoring system for damage detection in civil engineering structures using on-line monitoring data is being developed to identify any possible damage in short time. The present work is based on the treatment of uncertainties, which is one of the basic common difficulties faced when modelling structures. A methodology, based on interval analysis (IA) theory [R.E. Moore, Interval Analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1966] applied to a numerical constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) [J.R. Casas, J.C. Matos, J.A. Figueiras, J. Vehí, O. García, P. Herrero, Bridge monitoring and assessment under uncertainty via interval analysis, in: Ninth International Conference On Structural Safety And Reliability—ICOSSAR2005, 2005. pp. 487–494], is implemented in the damage detection [J.R. Casas, J.C. Matos, J.A. Figueiras, J. Vehí, O. García, P. Herrero, Bridge monitoring and assessment under uncertainty via interval analysis, in: Ninth International Conference On Structural Safety And Reliability—ICOSSAR2005, 2005. pp. 487–494] and modelling system of a long-term monitoring project in order to achieve such an objective. An algorithm is being developed for using such methodology with the obtained data.     

Recovering risk-neutral probability density functions from options prices using cubic splines and ensuring nonnegativity

We present a new approach to estimate the risk-neutral probability density function (pdf) of the future prices of an underlying asset from the prices of options written on the asset. The estimation is carried out in the space of cubic spline functions, yielding appropriate smoothness. The resulting optimization problem, used to invert the data and determine the corresponding density function, is a convex quadratic or semidefinite programming problem, depending on the formulation. Both of these problems can be efficiently solved by numerical optimization software.     

Neuere Methoden zum Nachweis, zur Isolierung und quantitativen Bestimmung des Eiwei?es sowie seiner h?heren und tieferen Abbauprodukte

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Strong convergence rates for the estimation of a covariance operator for associated samples

Let X _n , n ≥ 1, be a strictly stationary associated sequence of random variables, with common continuous distribution function F. Using histogram type estimators we consider the estimation of the two-dimensional distribution function of (X ₁,X _k+1) as well as the estimation of the covariance function of the limit empirical process induced by the sequence X _n , n ≥ 1. Assuming a convenient decrease rate of the covariances Cov(X ₁,X _n+1), n ≥ 1, we derive uniform strong convergence rates for these estimators. The condition on the covariance structure of the variables is satisfied either if Cov(X ₁,X _n+1) decreases polynomially or if it decreases geometrically, but as we could expect, under the latter condition we are able to establish faster convergence rates. For the two-dimensional distribution function the rate of convergence derived under a geometrical decrease of the covariances is close to the optimal rate for independent samples.