Cellulose Depolymerisation and Paper Properties in E. Globulus Kraft Pulps

The aim of this work was to study the impact of cellulose depolymerisation on the beating potential and handsheet properties of the portuguese E. globulus kraft pulp. A homogeneous sample of eucalypt wood chips was cooked using different kraft pulping conditions (cooking temperatures and times, and sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide concentrations) in order to obtain a wide variation for intrinsic viscosity of the pulps. In the range of industrial cooking conditions, this property was found to be linearly dependent on the effective alkali charge, for a given cooking time and temperature. Unbeaten and beaten (at 2000 rev. PFI) pulp properties were evaluated and the results confirm that the higher the pulp intrinsic viscosity the better the pulp beatability and the paper properties. However, the differences in the latter cannot be exclusively explained by the differences in viscosity, since pulps with the same viscosity may exhibit distinct papermaking potentials. It was then necessary to scan other pulp chemical characteristics that could also influence the development of paper properties such as lignin, pentosan content and polysaccharides relative composition.     

Detection and characterization of hydroxyl radical adducts by mass spectrometry

The study of the influence of free radicals in the biological process depends primarily on the capacity to detect these reactive species. In this work we have studied the application of mass spectrometry to the identification of hydroxyl radical species. The detection and identification by collisional activation mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy spectrometry (CA-MIKES) of a spin adduct of DMPO with the hydroxyl radical [(DMPO + O) + H]+ (m/z 130) has demonstrated that mass spectrometry can be a powerful tool in the detection and identification of spin adducts of DMPO with hydroxyl radical species. We were also able to detect the capture of secondary free radicals using ethanol by detecting and identifying the corresponding adduct [(DMPO + ethanol) + H]+. Other spin adducts have also been detected and identified. We consider that the use of mass spectrometry is a relevant technique for the detection of free hydroxyl radicals, especially in complex mixtures, since mass spectrometry is able to discriminate these adducts in such situations. Moreover, using this approach, it was possible to identify new spin adducts.     

Goodness of Fit Tests in Random Coefficient Regression Models

Random coefficient regressions have been applied in a wide range of fields, from biology to economics, and constitute a common frame for several important statistical models. A nonparametric approach to inference in random coefficient models was initiated by Beran and Hall. In this paper we introduce and study goodness of fit tests for the coefficient distributions; their asymptotic behavior under the null hypothesis is obtained. We also propose bootstrap resampling strategies to approach these distributions and prove their asymptotic validity using results by Giné and Zinn on bootstrap empirical processes. A simulation study illustrates the properties of these tests.     

Estimation of Time Varying Linear Systems

Based on kernel and wavelet estimators of the evolutionary spectrum and cross-spectrum we propose nonlinear wavelet estimators of the time varying coefficients of a linear system, whose input and output are locally stationary processes, in the sense of Dahlhaus (1997). We obtain large sample properties of these estimators, present some simulated examples and derive results on the L ₂-risk for the wavelet threshold estimators, assuming that the coefficients belong to some smoothness class. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Existence and uniqueness of elliptic periodic solutions of the Brillouin electron beam focusing system

We find conditions for the existence of an elliptic periodic solution of a singular equation that governs the motion of a magnetically focused axially symmetric electron beam with Brillouin flow by using a monotone iterative scheme starting from a couple of upper and lower solutions on the reversed order. Also, a uniqueness result is proved by using Brouwer degree and index of solutions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermolysis of hexasubstituted‐4,5‐dihydro‐3H‐pyrazoles: Kinetics and activation parameters

A kinetics study of the thermolysis of a series of hexasubstituted‐4,5‐dihydro‐3H‐pyrazoles (pyrazolines 1a: 3,3,4,4‐tetramethyl‐5‐phenyl‐5‐acetoxy; 1b: cis‐3,5‐diphenyl‐3,3,4‐trimethyl‐5‐acetoxy; 1c: cis‐3,5‐diphenyl‐3,4,4‐trimethyl‐5‐methoxy; 1d: 3,3,5‐triphenyl‐4,4‐dimethyl‐5‐acetoxy), which produced the corresponding hexasubstituted cyclopropanes 2a–d in quantitative yields was carried out. The first order rate constants (k₁) for thermal decomposition and activation parameters were determined. The relative reactivity series was found to be 1d >> 1b ∼ 1c > 1a. The activation parameters for thermolysis were found to be: for 1a ΔH‡ = 39.8 kcal/mol, ΔS‡ = 14 eu, k_150° = 6.8 × 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹; for 1b ΔH‡ = 33.5 kcal/mol, ΔS ‡ = 0.2 eu, k_150° = 1.7 × 10⁻⁴s⁻¹; for 1c ΔH‡ = 32.7 kcal/mol, ΔS‡ = −1.8 eu, k_150° = 1.2 × 10⁻⁴s⁻¹; for 1d ΔH‡ = 30.1 kcal/mol, ΔS‡ = −1.6 eu, k_150° = 8.8 × 10⁻³s⁻¹. The effect of variation of C3 substituents on the activation parameters for thermolysis paralleled the trend reported for acyclic analogs. The results are consistent with the formation of a (singlet) 1,3‐diradical intermediate with subsequent closure to yield the cyclopropanes. The mechanism of diradical formation appears to involve N₂‐C₃ bond cleavage as the rate determining step rather than simultaneous two bond scission. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 11:299–302, 2000     

Total synthesis of nahuoic acid A via a putative biogenetic intramolecular Diels–Alder (IMDA) reaction

Inspired by the biogenetic proposal of an intramolecular Diels–Alder (IMDA) cycloaddition, the total synthesis of natural product nahuoic acid A, a cofactor-competitive inhibitor of the epigenetic enzyme lysine methyl transferase SETD8, has been carried out. A non-conjugated pentaenal precursor was synthesized with high levels of stereoselectivity at seven stereogenic centers and with the appropriate control of double bond geometries. Although the IMDA reaction of the non-conjugated pentaenal using Me₂AlCl for catalysis at −40 °C selectively afforded the trans-fused diastereomer corresponding to the Re-endo mode of cycloaddition, under thermal reaction conditions it gave rise to a mixture of diastereomers, that preferentially formed through the exo mode, including the cis-fused angularly-methylated octahydronaphthalene diastereomer precursor of nahuoic acid A. The natural product could be obtained upon oxidation and overall deprotection of the hydroxyl groups present in the Si-exo IMDA diastereomer.

The total synthesis of natural product nahuoic acid A, a cofactor-competitive inhibitor of the epigenetic enzyme lysine methyl transferase SETD8, has been carried out based on the biogenetic proposal of an intramolecular Diels–Alder (IMDA) cycloaddition.     

Limit analysis and frictional contact: formulation and numerical solution

Meccanica - The evaluation of structural integrity involves the determination of a limit state. If there is plasticity, limit analysis theory takes place. The aim of this paper is to present a...