Orientador: Josimeri Hebling / Resumo: Objetivo: Avaliar a estabilidade mecânica e a atividade proteolítica de interfaces produzidas pela apliação de um adesivo convencional simplificado sobre a dentina biomodificada e seca. Métodos: Superfícies planas de dentina coronária foram criadas em 64 molares hígidos. Os dentes foram divididos em 4 grupos de acordo com a solução aplicada sobre a dentina condicionada: extrato de semente de uva 5% (GSE), glutaraldeído 5% (GD), Gluma Desensitizer ou água (controle). As soluções foram aplicadas por 60s seguido de lavagem e secagem com papel absorvente. Os dentes foram então subdivididos em dois grupos, nos quais a dentina condicionada foi mantida úmida ou foi seca com ar por 60s. O adesivo Optibond foi aplicado e em seguida foi construído um cilindro de resina. Decorridas 24h, os dentes foram cortados em espécimes (0,81 mm2 ), submetidos ao ensaio de microtração imediatamente ou após 12 meses de envelhecimento. Os mesmos procedimentos adesivos foram realizados em 32 dentes adicionais. Esses dentes foram seccionados em fatias de 0,5 mm de espessura, preparadas para os ensaios de nanoinfiltração e zimografia in situ (EnzChek). Os dados de resistência de união foram submetidos aos testes de ANOVA e Tukey (p<0,05), e os ensaios de nanoinfiltração e zimografia in situ foram apresentados descritivamente. Resultados: Redução significante da resistência de união imediata (ca. 65%) e aumento da atividade proteolítica e nanoilfiltração foi observado em interfaces produzidas sobre a dent... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the mechanical stability and the proteolytic activity of bonds created by a one-step, etch-and-rinse adhesive applied to cross-linked and air-dried etched dentin. Methods: Flat coronal dentin surfaces were produced in 64 sound molars. The teeth were divided into 4 groups according to the solution applied on the etched dentin: 5% grape seed extract, 5% glutaraldehyde, Gluma Desensitizer or deionized water (control). Solutions were applied for 60s followed by rinse and blot drying. Then, the teeth were separated into two subgroups: the etched dentin was kept moist or air dried for 60s. Optibond was applied followed by a composite resin buildup. After 24h, the teeth were cut into beams (0.81 mm²) which were microtensile tested immediately or after 12mo of storage. Additional teeth (n=32) were bonded as described and cut into 0.5 mm-thick slabs. The slabs were prepared for nanoleakage and in situ zymography analyses (EnzChek). Bond strength data were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey tests (p<0.05) while nanoleakage and zymography data were descriptively reported. Results: Significant reduction in bond strength (ca. 65%) and increase of the proteolytic activity was seen when the etched dentin was air-dried without previous biomodification. Conversely, bond strengths did not differ from those produced on wet dentin when collagen was cross-linked before air-drying, irrespective of the solution. For both moist and air-dried etched dentin, collagen cross-linking res... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

<p>Pictorial cues, together with motion and stereoscopic depth fields, can be used for perception and constitute ‘three kinds’ of vision. Edges in images are important features and can be created in either of these attributes. Are local edge and global shape detection processes attribute-specific? Three visual phenomena, believed to be due to low-level visual processes, were used as probes to address these issues. (1) Tilt illusions (misperceived orientation of a bar caused by an inducing grating) were used to investigate possible binding of edges across attributes. Double dissociation of tilt repulsion illusions (obtained with small orientation differences between inducer and bar) and attraction illusions (obtained with large orientation differences) suggest different mechanisms for their origins. Repulsion effects are believed to be due to processes in striate cortex and attraction because of higher level processing. The double dissociation was reproduced irrespective of the attributes used to create the inducing grating and the test-bar, suggesting that the detection and binding of edges across attributes take place in striate cortex. (2) Luminance-based illusory contour perception is another phenomenon believed to be mediated by processes in early visual cortical areas. Illusory contours can be cued by other attributes as well. Detection facilitation of a near-threshold luminous line occurred when it was superimposed on illusory contours irrespective of the attributes used as inducers. The result suggests attribute-independent activation of edge detectors, responding to real as well as illusory contours. (3) The performance in detecting snake-like shapes composed of aligned oriented elements embedded in randomly oriented noise elements was similar irrespective of the attributes used to create the elements. Performance when the attributes alternated along the path was superior to that predicted with an independent channel model. These results are discussed in terms of binding across attributes by feed-forward activation of orientation selective attribute-invariant cells (conjunction cells) in early stages of processing and contextual modulation and binding across visual space mediated by lateral and/or feedback signals from higher areas (dynamic binding).</p>

Pictorial cues, together with motion and stereoscopic depth fields, can be used for perception and constitute ‘three kinds’ of vision. Edges in images are important features and can be created in either of these attributes. Are local edge and global shape detection processes attribute-specific? Three visual phenomena, believed to be due to low-level visual processes, were used as probes to address these issues. (1) Tilt illusions (misperceived orientation of a bar caused by an inducing grating) were used to investigate possible binding of edges across attributes. Double dissociation of tilt repulsion illusions (obtained with small orientation differences between inducer and bar) and attraction illusions (obtained with large orientation differences) suggest different mechanisms for their origins. Repulsion effects are believed to be due to processes in striate cortex and attraction because of higher level processing. The double dissociation was reproduced irrespective of the attributes used to create the inducing grating and the test-bar, suggesting that the detection and binding of edges across attributes take place in striate cortex. (2) Luminance-based illusory contour perception is another phenomenon believed to be mediated by processes in early visual cortical areas. Illusory contours can be cued by other attributes as well. Detection facilitation of a near-threshold luminous line occurred when it was superimposed on illusory contours irrespective of the attributes used as inducers. The result suggests attribute-independent activation of edge detectors, responding to real as well as illusory contours. (3) The performance in detecting snake-like shapes composed of aligned oriented elements embedded in randomly oriented noise elements was similar irrespective of the attributes used to create the elements. Performance when the attributes alternated along the path was superior to that predicted with an independent channel model. These results are discussed in terms of binding across attributes by feed-forward activation of orientation selective attribute-invariant cells (conjunction cells) in early stages of processing and contextual modulation and binding across visual space mediated by lateral and/or feedback signals from higher areas (dynamic binding).

The dissertation is a study of the poetics of haikai in eighteenth-century Japan. It is more specifically concerned with the works of Yosa Buson and some of his followers. Rather than being a study of certain poems, it is an investigation of theories of aesthetics and composition, and of criticism. Most studies of haikai focus on the short haiku (or hokku) form, but the present study is more concerned with the core form of this poetry, the long chains of verses called "renku" or "haikai no renga". One important object of this study is to challenge some of the established views of haikai found in modern scholarship. For this purpose, many standpoints of haikai theory have been found useful, since they often approach questions of interpretation from new and unexpected angles. Theoretical stances that stress convention and traditionalism are criticized and the spirit of haikai is found to be more in concord with theories of cognitive poetics. The dissertation consists of three parts. The first is a study of general haikai theory. In this part are discussed theories of aesthetics, theories of creativity, and a few questions related to the interpretation of this kind of poetry. This discussion focuses on those questions that are central in Buson’s own writing on poetics and puts them into a broader context. The second part deals with practical theories of renku composing. An introductory chapter gives a historical background to many concepts used in Buson’s age, and this is followed by a full translation and critical study of a renku treatise written by his disciple Takai Kitō. The last part is an investigation of modern criticism written on Buson’s renku. All existing full-length studies of these poems are discussed in comparison. The absence of a long critical tradition concerning Buson’s renku has, in many cases, prevented the formation of established interpretations, and this is ideal for a study of this kind.

Data mining is a fast-developing field of study, using computations to either predict or describe large amounts of data. The increase in data produced each year goes hand in hand with this, requiring algorithms that are more and more efficient in order to find interesting information within a given time. In this thesis, we study methods for extracting information from semi-structured data, for finding structure within large sets of discrete data, and to efficiently rank web pages in a topic-sensitive way. The information extraction research focuses on support for keeping both documentation and source code up to date at the same time. Our approach to this problem is to embed parts of the documentation within strategic comments of the source code and then extracting them by using a specific tool. The structures that our structure mining algorithms are able to find among crisp data (such as keywords) is in the form of subsumptions, i.e. one keyword is a more general form of the other. We can use these subsumptions to build larger structures in the form of hierarchies or lattices, since subsumptions are transitive. Our tool has been used mainly as input to data mining systems and for visualisation of data-sets. The main part of the research has been on ranking web pages in a such a way that both the link structure between pages and also the content of each page matters. We have created a number of algorithms and compared them to other algorithms in use today. Our focus in these comparisons have been on convergence rate, algorithm stability and how relevant the answer sets from the algorithms are according to real-world users. The research has focused on the development of efficient algorithms for gathering and handling large data-sets of discrete and textual data. A proposed system of tools is described, all operating on a common database containing "fingerprints" and meta-data about items. This data could be searched by various algorithms to increase its usefulness or to find the real data more efficiently. All of the methods described handle data in a crisp manner, i.e. a word or a hyper-link either is or is not a part of a record or web page. This means that we can model their existence in a very efficient way. The methods and algorithms that we describe all make use of this fact. / Informationsutvinning (som ofta kallas data mining även på svenska) är ett forskningsområde som hela tiden utvecklas. Det handlar om att använda datorer för att hitta mönster i stora mängder data, alternativt förutsäga framtida data utifrån redan tillgänglig data. Eftersom det samtidigt produceras mer och mer data varje år ställer detta högre och högre krav på effektiviteten hos de algoritmer som används för att hitta eller använda informationen inom rimlig tid. Denna avhandling handlar om att extrahera information från semi-strukturerad data, att hitta strukturer i stora diskreta datamängder och att på ett effektivt sätt rangordna webbsidor utifrån ett ämnesbaserat perspektiv. Den informationsextraktion som beskrivs handlar om stöd för att hålla både dokumentationen och källkoden uppdaterad samtidigt. Vår lösning på detta problem är att låta delar av dokumentationen (främst algoritmbeskrivningen) ligga som blockkommentarer i källkoden och extrahera dessa automatiskt med ett verktyg. De strukturer som hittas av våra algoritmer för strukturextraktion är i form av underordnanden, exempelvis att ett visst nyckelord är mer generellt än ett annat. Dessa samband kan utnyttjas för att skapa större strukturer i form av hierarkier eller riktade grafer, eftersom underordnandena är transitiva. Det verktyg som vi har tagit fram har främst använts för att skapa indata till ett informationsutvinningssystem samt för att kunna visualisera indatan. Huvuddelen av den forskning som beskrivs i denna avhandling har dock handlat om att kunna rangordna webbsidor utifrån både deras innehåll och länkarna som finns mellan dem. Vi har skapat ett antal algoritmer och visat hur de beter sig i jämförelse med andra algoritmer som används idag. Dessa jämförelser har huvudsakligen handlat om konvergenshastighet, algoritmernas stabilitet givet osäker data och slutligen hur relevant algoritmernas svarsmängder har ansetts vara utifrån användarnas perspektiv. Forskningen har varit inriktad på effektiva algoritmer för att hämta in och hantera stora datamängder med diskreta eller textbaserade data. I avhandlingen presenterar vi även ett förslag till ett system av verktyg som arbetar tillsammans på en databas bestående av “fingeravtryck” och annan meta-data om de saker som indexerats i databasen. Denna data kan sedan användas av diverse algoritmer för att utöka värdet hos det som finns i databasen eller för att effektivt kunna hitta rätt information. / AlgExt, CHiC, ProT

A challenging application space exists for high-aspect-ratio, high-fidelity dielectrics in micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS), microelectronic, and photonic applications. Photosensitive polymers are widely used in these fields because they are relatively easy to process and pattern, and have good mechanical properties. Photosensitive polynorbornene (PNB)-based dielectrics have been shown to have high sensitivity, excellent photodefinition properties, and high mechanical strength making them suitable for MEMS, microelectronic packaging, and photonic applications. PNB-based dielectrics can be functionalized with epoxide, carboxylic acid, or fluorinated alcohol groups. Epoxy or carboxylic acid groups can be used to provide cross-linkable sites, resulting in improved chemical and thermal properties while fluorinated alcohol groups can provide solubility in aqueous base. The focus of this study has been on the epoxy-based cross-linking of ultraviolet and electron beam (e-beam) sensitive negative-tone PNB-based dielectrics. The impact of multifunctional epoxy-based additives on the cross-linking, photolithographic properties, and adhesion properties of the photosensitive PNB dielectric was investigated. High aspect ratio features of 13:1 (height:width) were produced in 40 µm thick films (a single coat) with straight side-wall profiles and high fidelity. Contrast values as high as 33.4 were obtained at doses below 15 mJ/cm2. To evaluate the polymer's suitability to MEMS and microelectronics applications, epoxy cross-linking reactions were studied as a function of processing condition through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nanoindentation, swelling and dielectric measurements. The fully cross-linked films had an elastic modulus of 2.9 GPa and hardness of 0.18 GPa which can improve the mechanical compliance of the packaging device. To explore the feasibility of the PNB dielectric as a highly sensitive e-beam resist for nano scale fabrication, the e-beam initiated reaction between PNB cross-linking sites and the multifunctional epoxy cross-linkers was investigated. In this study, the interaction of an e-beam with the PNB mixture and its compounds was investigated. The contrast, photodefinability, and e-beam activation of the components in the PNB formulations were studied. The PNB polymer had very high e-beam sensitivity and contrast. It was shown that the addition of a photoacid generator (PAG) to the polymer-epoxy mixture enhanced the contrast and sensitivity. Formulations with the additional cross-linker showed improved contrast, sensitivity, and substrate adhesion. 100 nm structures with 13.5 nm line edge roughness (LER) were fabricated. The influence of the developing time, the developer concentration, PEB, and film thickness on the contrast and sensitivity were studied. Structures with contrast values as high as approximately 8 were fabricated at doses as low as 0.38 µC/cm2. The acid-catalyzed epoxy ring opening reaction of the PNB dielectric was studied using FTIR spectroscopy. The photo and thermal acid generation initiated epoxy ring opening reactions and subsequent cross-linking of polymer. Additionally, polymer properties were characterized as a function of processing conditions for this polymer system. It was shown that thermal cure conditions have a substantial impact on the mechanical and electrical properties of the polymer. The rate and ultimate conversion of the epoxy ring opening reaction increased with increasing cure temperature, resulting in a higher degree of cross-linking at cure temperatures above 140°C. Degradation reactions occurred at temperatures above 160°C, indicating loss of epoxide cross-linking groups and linkages. These hypotheses were supported by electrical and mechanical property studies. It was shown that curing the PNB polymer at 160°C for 1 h after develop resulted in full epoxy ring opening and highest cross-link density. This sample showed lower dielectric constant (3.9), residual stress (20 MPa), and solvent swelling (3.1%). Variable frequency microwave (VFM) processing of the PNB dielectric was studied to investigate the rapid curing of the polymer at lower temperatures. The FTIR results showed that the microwave reaction rates were higher at each isothermal cure temperature compared to convective heating, indicating that the rapid VFM curing of PNB at low temperatures is feasible. The PNB film was fully cross-linked after 15 min VFM cure at the low temperature of 150˚C. The shortest time to fully cure the polymer was found to be 5 min at 160°C. Also, the feasibility of rapid VFM curing of PNB in air was studied. All samples VFM-cured (140˚C-180˚C) in air showed no signs of oxidation. The electrical and mechanical properties of VFM-cured films were characterized and compared with thermally cured films to determine the effectiveness of the VFM processing. VFM-cured samples showed higher degree of cross-linking than thermally-cured samples, which was congruent with the FTIR results. Improved or equivalent properties were obtained for VFM-cured samples at shorter cure cycles and lower cure temperatures compared to thermally-cured films. The PNB dielectric was also used as an overcoat material to make micro and nano fluidic channels. In this work, incorporation of advanced micro/nano fluidics with high-sensitivity photonic sensors was demonstrated. 500 nm to 50 µm channels were fabricated by thermal decomposition of epoxy-based PNB polymers. Microdisks with quality factors of over 106 were presented in complementary metal-xide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible SiN on oxide technology. These ultra-high quality factor SiN resonators were demonstrated in the visible range for the first time. The fluidic structures were interfaced with photonics for index and florescence sensing. This study was a collaboration with Dr. Ehsan Shahhosseini from the Photonics Group at Georgia Tech.

Block copolymers are commercially significant and fundamentally interesting class of polymeric materials. The ability to undergo interfacial thermodynamics-controlled microphase separation from a completely disordered state in the melt to a specifically defined ordered structure through self-organization makes the block copolymers based materials unique. Block copolymer are strongly replacing many of the commercially available polymers due to their unique microstructure and properties. The most practical interests of block copolymers lie in the area of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). The objective of the present thesis work is to developing novel roots for enhancing the physical and mechanical properties in block copolymer and multigraft copolymers. Initially the properties are tailored by controlling chemical architecture at synthesis level and by selective blending at production level. This gives an easy access for improvement of the material properties and this is one of my major tasks in the present research modules. Further the block copolymer based TPEs are cross-linked in presence of electron beam (EB) radiation for developing materials with superior properties. The electron beam radiation has the ability to alter material parameters at molecular level for enhancing the macroscopic properties. The desirable physical and chemical properties can be easily attained by varying the radiation beam parameters. In addition to that, controlling the material at nanometer scale is one of the greatest challenges for current nanocomposite research. In elastomeric materials it is very prominent to fill the rubber matrix with nano particles from carbon or silica by melt mixing technique for enhancing the material properties. Other than conventional melt mixing technique, sol–gel processing is also a versatile technique, which making it possible to produce a wide variety of materials and to provide existing materials with novel properties. A combination of in situ sol-gel reaction with electron beam cross-linking in TPEs from triblock copolymer has been demonstrated for the first time as one of the novel nanocomposite system in this work. The main advantage of this system lies in controlling the material behaviour by finely tuning the size of silica nano particle generated inside TPE during in situ sol-gel reaction. Finally, the various roots employed for enhancing the material behaviour in block copolymers in the above research module were secussfully employed on super elastic multigraft copolymers for improving their strength withour sacrificing the super elastic nature.

Une nouvelle notion d'enlacement pour les paires d'ensembles $A\subset B$, $P\subset Q$ dans un espace de Hilbert de type $X=Y\oplus Y^{\perp}$ avec $Y$ séparable, appellée $\tau$-enlacement, est définie. Le modèle pour cette définition est la généralisation de l'enlacement homotopique et de l'enlacement au sens de Benci-Rabinowitz faite par Frigon. En utilisant la théorie du degré développée dans un article de Kryszewski et Szulkin, plusieurs exemples de paires $\tau$-enlacées sont donnés. Un lemme de déformation est établi et utilisé conjointement à la notion de $\tau$-enlacement pour prouver un théorème d'existence de point critique pour une certaine classe de fonctionnelles sur $X$. De plus, une caractérisation de type minimax de la valeur critique correspondante est donnée. Comme corollaire de ce théorème, des conditions sont énoncées sous lesquelles l'existence de deux points critiques distincts est garantie. Deux autres théorèmes de point critiques sont démontrés dont l'un généralise le théorème principal de l'article de Kryszewski et Szulkin mentionné ci-haut. / A new notion of linking for pairs of sets $A\subset B$, $P\subset Q$ in a Hilbert space of the form $X=Y\oplus Y^{\perp}$ with $Y$ separable, called $\tau$-linking, is defined. The model for this definition is the generalization of homotopical linking and linking in the sense of Benci-Rabinowitz made by Frigon. Using the degree theory developped in an article of Kryszewski and Szulkin, many examples of $\tau$-linking pairs are given. A deformation lemma is established and used jointly with the notion of $\tau$-linking to prove an existence theorem for critical points of a certain class of functionals defined on $X$. Moreover, a characterization of a minimax nature for the corresponding critical value is given. As a corollary of this theorem, conditions are stated under which the existence of two distinct critical points is guaranteed. Two other critical point theorems are demonstrated, one of which generalizes the main theorem of the article of A new notion of linking for pairs of sets $A\subset B$, $P\subset Q$ in a Hilbert space of the form $X=Y\oplus Y^{\perp}$ with $Y$ separable, called $\tau$-linking, is defined. The model for this definition is the generalization of homotopical linking and linking in the sense of Benci-Rabinowitz made by Frigon~\cite{frigon:1}. Using the degree theory developped in~\cite{szulkin:1}, many examples of $\tau$-linking pairs are given. A deformation lemma is established and used jointly with the notion of $\tau$-linking to prove an existence theorem for critical points of a certain class of functionals defined on $X$. Moreover, a characterization of a minimax nature for the corresponding critical value is given. As a corollary of this theorem, conditions are stated under which the existence of two distinct critical points is guaranteed. Two other critical point theorems are demonstrated, one of which generalizes the main theorem of the article by Kryszewski and Szulkin cited above.

New processes for the production of polymeric dispersions with high solids content and low viscosity were developed, investigated and characterized. The specifications required for the desired application of paper coating, which constitutes one of the major innovative aspects of this thesis, requires in average particle sizes smaller than 200 nm. This particle size is significantly smaller than obtained in previous work in this area. The main objective of this project was to increase the solids content of existing products from ~50 to ~60 wt% while keeping the viscosity at low levels (< 1200 mPa•s at 20 s-1). In order to produce high solids content latexes with low viscosity, bimodal particle size distributions were resorted to. To obtain highest packing fraction, the small particle size population should be about 7 times smaller than the large particles, bringing the size of the small particles to less than 30 nm. Modified (micro)emulsion processes were developed in order to produce small particle size latex with reduced surfactant concentration and increased solids content. The large particle population was developed using a semi-batch emulsion polymerization process, simulating a product that is commercially available (~52 wt% solids content and viscosity of ~500 mPa•s at 20 s-1). To increase the solids content of this product up to 60 wt%, a second population of small particles was created using two approaches. In the first approach, the small particles were generated in situ using the modified (micro)emulsion approaches developed previously. This process resulted in latexes of ~ 60% solids content and viscosities lower than 500 mPa•s at 20 s-1. In the second approach, the second population of particles was created by the addition of seeds by using small cross-linked particles as pseudo inert-fillers. This process resulted in products with ~58% solids and viscosities lower than 1400 mPa•s at 20 s-1. The slightly decreased solids content and increased viscosity relative to the previous approaches is due to the difficulty in producing cross-linked seeds with particle sizes smaller than 30 nm at an acceptable concentration, causing deviations from ideal conditions. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2011-05-03 13:58:44.22

Polyamideamine epichlorohydrin (PAE) resin is a water soluble additive and the most used permanent wet strength additive in alkaline conditions for preparing wet strengthened papers. In this thesis, we studied some properties of PAE resins and wet strengthened papers prepared from them. In order to elucidate PAE structure, liquid state, 1H and 13C NMR was performed and permitted signals assignment of PAE structure. PAE films were prepared to study cross-linking reactions and then thermal and ageing treatments were performed. According to our results, the main PAE cross-linking reaction occurs by a nucleophilic attack of N atoms in the PAE and/or polyamideamine structures forming 2-propanol bridges between PAE macromolecules. A secondary contribution of ester linkages to the PAE cross-linking was also observed. However, this reaction, which is thermally induced, only occurs under anhydrous conditions. The mechanism related to wet strength development of PAE-based papers was studied by using CMC as a model compound for cellulosic fibres and PAE-CMC interactions as a model for PAE-fibres interactions. Based on results from NMR and FTIR, we clearly showed that PAE react with CMC that is when carboxylic groups are present in great amounts. Consequently, as the number of carboxylic groups present in lignocellulosic fibres is considerably less important and the resulting formed ester bonds are hydrolysable, we postulate that ester bond formation has a negligible impact on the wet strength of PAE-based papers. In the second part of this work, a 100% Eucalyptus pulp suspension was used to prepare PAE-based papers. PAE was added at different dosages (0.4, 0.6 and 1%) into the pulp suspension and its adsorption was indirectly followed by measuring the zeta potential. Results indicate that the adsorption, reconformation and/or penetration phenomena reach an apparent equilibrium between 10 and 30 min. Moreover, we showed that the paper dry strength was not significantly affected by the conductivity level (from 100 to 3000 µS/cm) of the pulp suspension. However, the conductivity has an impact on the wet strength and this effect seems to be enhanced for the highest PAE dosage (1%). We also demonstrated that storing the treated paper under controlled conditions or boosting the PAE cross-linking with a thermal post-treatment does not necessarily lead to the same wet strength. Degrading studies of cross-linked PAE films showed that PAE degradation in a persulfate solution at alkaline medium was more effective. A preliminary study of industrial PAE-based papers (coated and uncoated papers) was also performed. For uncoated paper, persulfate treatment was the most efficient. For coated papers, all treatments were inefficient in the used conditions, although a decrease of the wet tensile force of degraded samples was observed. The main responsible of the decrease of persulfate efficiency for coated papers was probably related to side reactions of free radicals with the coating constituents.