Ethylene/hindered phenol substituted norbornene copolymers: Synthesis and NMR structural determination

A new family of ethylene‐based copolymers with controlled amounts of a norbornene comonomer (N_ArOH) bearing a stabilizing antioxidant functionality (2,6‐di‐tert‐butyl phenol) was prepared. Due to unavoidable exo/endo equilibrium operative in N_ArOH comonomer, a complete and detailed NMR assignment of the structure of the prepared ethylene/N_ArOH copolymers was carried out for the determination of the exo/endo ratio inside the polymer. These novel functionalized comonomers can be considered suitable starting material for preparing ethylene‐based copolymers, with tunable comonomer content, as non‐releasing macromolecular antioxidant additives for specific application in safe food and/or drug packaging © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Coherent transfer by adiabatic passage in two-dimensional lattices

Coherent tunneling by adiabatic passage (CTAP) is a well-established technique for robust spatial transport of quantum particles in linear chains. Here we introduce two exactly-solvable models where the CTAP protocol can be extended to two-dimensional lattice geometries. Such bi-dimensional lattice models are synthesized from time-dependent second-quantization Hamiltonians, in which the bosonic field operators evolve adiabatically like in an ordinary three-level CTAP scheme thus ensuring adiabatic passage in Fock space.     

Ergodicity of a Single Particle Confined in a Nanopore

We analyze the dynamics of a gas particle moving through a nanopore of adjustable width with particular emphasis on ergodicity. We give a measure of the portion of phase space that is characterized by quasiperiodic trajectories which break ergodicity. The interactions between particle and wall atoms are mediated by a Lennard-Jones potential, so that an analytical treatment of the dynamics is not feasible, but making the system more physically realistic. In view of recent studies, which proved non-ergodicity for systems with scatterers interacting via smooth potentials, we find that the non-ergodic component of the phase space for energy levels typical of experiments, is surprisingly small, i.e. we conclude that the ergodic hypothesis is a reasonable approximation even for a single particle trapped in a nanopore. Due to the numerical scope of this work, our focus will be the onset of ergodic behavior which is evident on time scales accessible to simulations and experimental observations rather than ergodicity in the infinite time limit.     

On the integrability of Degasperis–Procesi equation: Control of the Sobolev norms and Birkhoff resonances

We consider the dispersive Degasperis–Procesi equation $u_t?u_{xxt}?\mathtt{c}{u}_{xxx}+4\mathtt{c}{u}_x?u{u}_{xxx}?3u_x{u}_{xx}+4u{u}_x=0$ with $\mathtt{c}\in \mathbb{R}?\{0\}$. In [15] the authors proved that this equation possesses infinitely many conserved quantities. We prove that there are infinitely many of such constants of motion which control the Sobolev norms and which are analytic in a neighborhood of the origin of the Sobolev space $H^s$ with $s\ge 2$, both on $\mathbb{R}$ and $\mathbb{T}$. By the analysis of these conserved quantities we deduce a result of global well-posedness for solutions with small initial data and we show that, on the circle, the formal Birkhoff normal form of the Degasperis–Procesi at any order is action-preserving.     

Coarsening Dynamics in a Simplified DNLS Model

We investigate the coarsening evolution occurring in a simplified stochastic model of the Discrete NonLinear Schrödinger (DNLS) equation in the so-called negative-temperature region. We provide an explanation of the coarsening exponent n=1/3, by invoking an analogy with a suitable exclusion process. In spite of the equivalence with the exponent observed in other known universality classes, this model is certainly different, in that it refers to a dynamics with two conservation laws.     

Molecular signal suppression by in situ microextraction in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The detailed characterization of complex mixtures by NMR is often hampered by the presence of signals from uninformative compounds, the resonances of which overlap with those of the molecules of interest. We provide here a proof of principle for an approach to NMR signal suppression in complex samples using Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPS). Addition of a few milligrams of polymer to a solution traps the target molecule in typical micromolar to millimolar concentration, thus achieving in situ signal suppression, without altering any other spectral features. This method minimized any manipulation or perturbation of the spectrum and was applied to a complex mixture of known compounds and to a plant extract, in both cases spiked with a compound (bisphenol A), which was subsequently removed by selective binding to a complementary MIP. What is described in this report is comparable with microextraction and may in due course be applied to a large number of analytical challenges. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fractional powers of the noncommutative Fourier's law by the S‐spectrum approach

Let e_?, for ? = 1,2,3, be orthogonal unit vectors in and let be a bounded open set with smooth boundary ?Ω. Denoting by a point in Ω, the heat equation, for nonhomogeneous materials, is obtained replacing the Fourier law, given by the following: into the conservation of energy law, here a, b, are given functions. With the S‐spectrum approach to fractional diffusion processes we determine, in a suitable way, the fractional powers of T. Then, roughly speaking, we replace the fractional powers of T into the conservation of energy law to obtain the fractional evolution equation. This method is important for nonhomogeneous materials where the Fourier law is not simply the negative gradient. In this paper, we determine under which conditions on the coefficients a, b, the fractional powers of T exist in the sense of the S‐spectrum approach. More in general, this theory allows to compute the fractional powers of vector operators that arise in different fields of science and technology. This paper is devoted to researchers working in fractional diffusion and fractional evolution problems, partial differential equations, and noncommutative operator theory.     

Thermal analysis and health safety

Hardwood dust is a human carcinogen; upon inhalation, it can cause sinonasal adenocarcinoma. Softwood, on the other hand, is only suspected of carcinogenic properties. However, the toxicology-based recommended exposure limits for hardwood and softwood dust in working environments have been derived identically. While it is very simple to distinguish the wood by morphological evaluations, the wood dust produced in working activities does not allow differentiation. Thermal analysis, especially thermogravimetry, was applied to evaluate the different characteristic thermal profile of standard hardwood and softwood dusts. The different TG and DTG traces allow to propose thermogravimetry as a new tool to distinguish and quantify the different dust origin.