Compressional Behaviour of an Agglomerated Cellulose Powder

The ability of an agglomerated cellulose powder to total and plastic deformation was evaluated and compared with those of Avicel PH 101, Emcocel and an experimental depolymerized cellulose powder. The elastic recovery of compressed cellulose tablets was also measured. The effects of deformation of the material during the tableting process and recovery of tablet after maximum compression on the mechanical strength of tablets were also discussed.

The apparent net work done into tablets during compression as well as the yield pressures to total and plastic deformation, determined from the Heckel treatment, showed no great differences between the agglomerated cellulose powder and the other cellulose powders. Thus all the cellulose materials studied had rather similar ability to total, i.e. elastic and plastic, deformation and to permanent, i.e. pure plastic, deformation. The obvious fragmentation of the agglomerated cellulose powder already at low compressional pressure, however, seemed to be advantageous for the formation of strong compacts.

Both rapid and total elastic recovery of compressed cellulose tablets showed clear differences between the cellulose materials and these differences correlated with the previously measured strength of cellulose tablets. The agglomerated cellulose powder had the smallest tendency to both kind of elastic recoveries of tablets. Obviously, due to the large interparticle contact areas, the ability of this material to establish more bonds between adjacent particles during compression was greater than those of other celluloses. The elastic recovery was greatest for depolymerized cellulose tablets indicating the poorest binding ability of the particles of this material.     

Specifying Cash-Point with DisCo

We describe how the cash-point service problem of Formal Methods ’99 is specified using DisCo [Dis, JKS91]. Received January 2000 / Accepted in revised form December 2000     

An Adaptable Problem-space-based Search Method for Flexible Flow Line Scheduling

Leon and Ramamoorthy (1997) developed an adaptable problem-space-based search method. Part of that work included development of a lower bound and comparison of makespans using real-world data. In this note we improve their lower bound and show that the Leon and Ramamoorthy search method found better makespan solutions than their lower bound indicated, including some optimal makespans.     

Membrane evaluation for the treatment of acidic clear filtrate

The total effluent load of a paper mill can be significantly decreased by recycling of purified clear filtrate (CF) back to paper-making process. The CF treated with membranes can be reused, for instance, as wire section shower water and in the dilution of chemicals. The main requirements for a membrane in CF treatment are high filtration capacity, high retention of turbidity and low fouling tendency. Previous studies have shown that the regenerated cellulose (RC) ultrafiltration (UF) membrane C30F (current trade name UC030T) is especially suitable for the treatment of paper mill process waters. Every paper-making process is, however, different. Thus, filtration experiments are required in order to find the most optimal membrane for the treatment of a certain process water. In this study the best membrane for the treatment of acidic clear filtrate (ACF) was searched. The performance of the C30F membrane was compared with five UF and three microfiltration (MF) membranes. The results revealed that in addition to the C30F membrane, also some other membranes produced high filtration capacity with ACF (approximately 200 L/(m²h bar)). All the tested membranes also retained over 90% of turbidity. The extremely hydrophilic C30F membrane had, however, lower fouling tendency compared to the other tested membranes. Therefore, it was concluded that the C30F membranes were the best possible membrane for the ACF treatment.     

Aerobic Oxidation of Benzylic Alcohols in Water by 2,2,6,6‐Tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO)/Copper(II) 2‐N‐Arylpyrrolecarbaldimino Complexes

Novel copper(II) 2‐N‐arylpyrrolecarbaldimine‐based catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols mediated by the 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO) radical are reported. The catalytic activity for both synthesized and in situ made complexes in alkaline water solutions was studied revealing high efficiency and selectivity (according to GC selectivity always >99%) for both of these catalytic systems. For example, quantitative conversion of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde can be achieved with the in situ prepared bis[2‐N‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐pyrrolylcarbaldimide]copper(II) catalysts in 2 h with atmospheric pressure of O₂ at 80 °C. Interestingly, these catalysts can utilize dioxygen as well as air or hydrogen peroxide as the end oxidants, producing water as the only by‐product.     

The Discovery and Structure-Activity Evaluation of (+)-Floyocidin B and Synthetic Analogs

Tuberculosis represents one of the ten most common courses of death worldwide and the emergence of multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis makes the discovery of novel anti-tuberculosis active structures an urgent priority. Here, we show that (+)-floyocidin B representing the first example of a novel dihydroisoquinoline class of fungus-derived natural products, displays promising antitubercular hit properties. (+)-Floyocidin B was identified by activity-guided extract screening and its structure was unambiguously determined by total synthesis. The absolute configuration was deduced from a key synthesis intermediate by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. A hit series was generated by the isolation of further natural congeners and the synthesis of analogs of (+)-floyocidin B. Extensive biological and physicochemical profiling of this series revealed first structure-activity relationships and set the basis for further optimization and development of this novel antitubercular scaffold.     

Partial electrode method for loss and physical parameter determination of piezoceramics: Simplification,error investigation and applicability

The IEEE standard to determine physical parameters of piezoceramics has been utilized for decades by many researchers, yet it omits presence of important loss factors and possesses serious deficits that restrict accurate parameter determination. To resolve these issues, the partial electrode (PE) method was previously proposed, though the focus has been merely made on development of the method itself. In this study, we provide method simplification and more detailed analysis. The omission of unnecessary samples greatly boosts experiment and analysis process. To prove that the PE method is reliable, possible causes of errors were investigated; it is shown that they were either negligibly small or can be resolved with proper calibration. Furthermore, Applicability of PE method to various types of piezoceramic materials and compatibility with impedance analyzers are shown. Finally, PE method is proved to be reliable and can be alternative to IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity.     

TEMPO‐Copper(II) Diimine‐Catalysed Oxidation of Benzylic Alcohols in Aqueous Media

In situ generated copper(II)‐diimine complexes combined with TEMPO (2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidinyl‐1‐oxyl radical) were studied in the oxidation of benzylic alcohols, the focus being on enviromentally benign reaction conditions. In this respect, reactions were studied in aqueous alkaline solutions and dioxygen was used as an end oxidant. This simple catalytic system turned out to be highly efficient and selective in the oxidation of primary and secondary benzylic alcohols to their corresponding carbonyl compounds. Under optimised reaction conditions [5 mol % of TEMPO, 3 mol % of copper(II ) diimine, pH 12.6–13.5, 80 °C, 10 bar O₂] benzyl alcohol was quantitatively and selectively oxidised to benzaldehyde. According to ESI‐MS studies, coordination of TEMPO, as well as deprotonated benzyl alcohol to the parent copper‐diimine complex in aqueous solutions is feasible. Supported by these observations a plausible reaction mechanism is proposed for the oxidation reaction.