Comparison of steam pretreatment of eucalyptus,aspen, and spruce wood chips and their enzymatic hydrolysis

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Enzymatic hydrolysis of SO2-impregnated, steam-explodedEucalyptus viminalis was carried out at increasing substrate concentrations and enzyme loadings. When...     

The diastereoselective synthesis of functionalised isoxazolidines using a Cope elimination/intramolecular nitrone cycloaddition strategy

Functionalised hydroxylamine derivatives of (S)-prolinol prepared by a Cope elimination have been found to undergo oxidation to the nitrone either in the presence of air or a catalytic quantity of TPAP. These undergo intramolecular cycloaddition to give tricyclic isoxazolidines with high diastereoselectivity.     

<Superscript>40</Superscript>K activities and potassium concentrations in tobacco samples of Mexican cigarettes

Nine brands of tobacco cigarettes manufactured and distributed in the Mexican market were analyzed by γ-spectrometry to certify their non-artificial radioactive contamination. Since natural occurring radioactive materials (NORM) ⁴⁰K, ²³²Th, ²³⁵U, and ²³⁹U (and decay products from the latter three nuclides) are the main sources for human radiation exposure, the aim of this work was to determine the activity of ⁴⁰K and potassium concentration. Averages of ⁴⁰K and potassium concentration were of 1.29±0.18 Bq·g⁻¹, and 4.0±0.57%. The annual dose equivalents to the whole body from ingestion and inhalation of 26 Bq ⁴⁰K were 0.23 μSv and 15.8 μSv, respectively. The corresponding 50 years committed dose equivalents was 0.23 μSv. The total committed dose to the lungs due to inhalation of ⁴⁰K in tobacco was 16 μSv. Potassium concentrations obtained in this work were in the same range of those obtained by INAA, so showing that the used technique is acute, reproducible, and accessible to laboratories equipped with low background scintillation detectors.     

On the evolution of sharp fronts for the quasi‐geostrophic equation

We consider the problem of the evolution of sharp fronts for the surface quasi‐geostrophic (QG) equation. This problem is the analogue to the vortex patch problem for the two‐dimensional Euler equation. The special interest of the quasi‐geostrophic equation lies in its strong similarities with the three‐dimensional Euler equation, while being a two‐dimen‐sional model. In particular, an analogue of the problem considered here, the evolution of sharp fronts for QG, is the evolution of a vortex line for the three‐dimensional Euler equation. The rigorous derivation of an equation for the evolution of a vortex line is still an open problem. The influence of the singularity appearing in the velocity when using the Biot‐Savart law still needs to be understood. We present two derivations for the evolution of a periodic sharp front. The first one, heuristic, shows the presence of a logarithmic singularity in the velocity, while the second, making use of weak solutions, obtains a rigorous equation for the evolution explaining the influence of that term in the evolution of the curve. Finally, using a Nash‐Moser argument as the main tool, we obtain local existence and uniqueness of a solution for the derived equation in the C^∞ case. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Synthesis and characterization of functional gradient copolymers of allyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate

Functional spontaneous gradient copolymers of allyl methacrylate (A) and butyl acrylate (B) were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization. The copolymerization reactions were carried out in toluene solutions at 100 °C with methyl 2‐bromopropionate as the initiator and copper bromide with N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine as the catalyst system. Different aspects of the statistical reaction copolymerizations, such as the kinetic behavior, crosslinking density, and gel fraction, were studied. The gel data were compared with Flory's gelation theory, and the sol fractions of the synthesized copolymers were characterized by size exclusion chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The copolymer composition, demonstrating the gradient character of the copolymers, and the microstructure were analyzed. The experimental data agreed well with data calculated with the Mayo–Lewis terminal model and Bernoullian statistics, with monomer reactivity ratios of 2.58 ± 0.37 and 0.51 ± 0.05 for A and B, respectively, an isotacticity parameter for A of 0.24, and a coisotacticity parameter of 0.33. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5304–5315, 2006     

Annealing effects on the magnetization of Co–Ni–B amorphous nanoparticles

Chemically prepared (Co_xNi_1−x)_1−yB_y (x=0.5, 0.75, 1; y≈0.4) amorphous fine particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, DTA and TGA, and in situ magnetic measurement as a function of annealing temperature in an inert atmosphere. Magnetic measurement performed in as-prepared and 150°C annealed samples shows an increase of the saturation magnetization and magnetic moment after thermal treatment. Room temperature magnetization increases by factors of 3.5, 1.8, and 1.5, for x=0.5, 0.75, and 1, respectively. These measurements may indicate a local re-ordering of the amorphous phase at temperatures much lower than the full crystallization temperature.     

The radiative return at small angles: virtual corrections

Virtual corrections for electron-positron annihilation into one real and one off-shell photon of invariant mass are evaluated. Special attention is paid to those configurations where the real photon is collinear with the beam direction. This calculation is an important ingredient of a Monte Carlo program, which simulates events with tagged photons from initial-state radiation, including NLO corrections. Received: 24 April 2002 / Published online: 12 July 2002     

On boundary conditions in three-dimensional AdS gravity

A finite action principle for three-dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant, based on a boundary condition for the asymptotic extrinsic curvature, is considered. The bulk action appears naturally supplemented by a boundary term that is one half the Gibbons–Hawking term, that makes the Euclidean action and the Noether charges finite without additional Dirichlet counterterms. The consistency of this boundary condition with the Dirichlet problem in AdS gravity and the Chern–Simons formulation in three dimensions, and its suitability for the higher odd-dimensional case, are also discussed.     

Lévy processes and Fourier multipliers

We study Fourier multipliers which result from modulating jumps of Lévy processes. Using the theory of martingale transforms we prove that these operators are bounded in Lp(Rd) for 1<p<∞ and we obtain the same explicit bound for their norm as the one known for the second order Riesz transforms.