Enantioselective Access to 1H‐Isoindoles with Quaternary Stereogenic Centers by Palladium(0)‐Catalyzed C−H Functionalization

A catalytic enantioselective method for the synthesis of chiral 1H‐isoindoles bearing quaternary stereogenic centers is reported. Powered by readily accessible phosphordiamidite ligands, the presented palladium(0)‐catalyzed C?H functionalization uses trifluoroacetimidoyl chlorides as electrophilic components. It delivers previously inaccessible perfluoroalkylated 1H‐isoindoles in high yields and enantioselectivities. The subsequent diastereoselective addition of nucleophiles provides access to densely substituted and sterically hindered isoindolines.     

Thermal Pretreatment of Harvest Residues and Their Use in Anaerobic Co-digestion with Dairy Cow Manure

Several batch experiments were conducted on the anaerobic co-digestion of dairy cow manure (DCM) with three harvest residues (HR) (soybean straw, sunflower stalks, and corn stover). The influence of thermal pretreatment of HR on biogas production was investigated, where the HR were thermally pretreated at two different temperatures: T = 121 °C and T = 175 °C, during t = 30 and t = 90 min, respectively. All anaerobic co-digestion batch experiments were performed simultaneously under thermophilic regime, at T = 55 °C. Biogas and methane yields were significantly improved in experiments performed with corn stover thermally pretreated at 175 °C for 30 min (491.37 cm³/g VS and 306.96 cm³/g VS, respectively), if compared to experiments performed with untreated corn stover. The highest VS and COD removal rates were also observed in the same group of experiments and were 34.5 and 50.1%, respectively. The highest biogas and methane yields with soybean straw (418.93 cm³/g VS and 261.44 cm³/g VS, respectively) were obtained when soybean straw pretreated at 121 °C during 90 min. The highest biogas and methane yields with sunflower stalk (393.28 cm³/g VS and 245.02 cm³/g VS, respectively) were obtained when sunflower stalk was pretreated at 121 °C during 90 min.     

Empowering pharmacoinformatics by linked life science data

With the public availability of large data sources such as ChEMBLdb and the Open PHACTS Discovery Platform, retrieval of data sets for certain protein targets of interest with consistent assay conditions is no longer a time consuming process. Especially the use of workflow engines such as KNIME or Pipeline Pilot allows complex queries and enables to simultaneously search for several targets. Data can then directly be used as input to various ligand- and structure-based studies. In this contribution, using in-house projects on P-gp inhibition, transporter selectivity, and TRPV1 modulation we outline how the incorporation of linked life science data in the daily execution of projects allowed to expand our approaches from conventional Hansch analysis to complex, integrated multilayer models.     

Parallel two-photon photopolymerization of microgear patterns

We report parallel two-photon photopolymerization of microgear patterns by exposing a photoresist to holographically generated optical vortices. The optical vortices are created by imparting a helical pitch onto the incident light using a programmable lithographic phase mask realized with a computer addressable phase-only spatial light modulator. By varying the phase levels of the spatial light modulator, the truncated helical phase of an optical vortex results in output intensity patterns that typifies that of microgears instead of perfect doughnut beams. Our experiments and simulations are in good agreement implying a more efficient and highly parallel two-photon photopolymerization scheme that can be subsequently used for non-scanning fabrication of microgears.     

On a partial regularity up to the boundary of weak solutions to quasilinear parabolic systems with quadratic growth

Quasilinear nondiagonal parabolic systems with quadratic growth in the gradient in a parabolic cylinder Q are considered. Under Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, a partial Hölder continuity of solutions u∈W ₂ ^t,1 (Q)～L^∞ (Q) up to the lateral surface of Q is proved.The Hausdorff dimension of a singular set is estimated. In the proof, we get rid of the maximum principle theorem for respective model linear problems. Bibliography: 21 titles.     

Identification of Bacteria Associated with Post-Operative Wounds of Patients with the Use of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Approach

The bacterial infection of post-operative wounds is a common health problem. Therefore, it is important to investigate fast and accurate methods of identifying bacteria in clinical samples. The aim of the study was to analyse the use of the MALDI-TOF MS technique to identify microorganism wounds that are difficult to heal. The most common bacteria are Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus spp., and Enterococcus spp. We also demonstrate the effect of culture conditions, such as the used growth medium (solid: Brain Heart Infusion Agar, Mueller Hilton Agar, Glucose Bromocresol Purple Agar, and Vancomycin Resistance Enterococci Agar Base and liquid: Tryptic Soy Broth and BACTEC Lytic/10 Anaerobic/F), the incubation time (4, 6, and 24h), and the method of the preparation of bacterial protein extracts (the standard method based on the Bruker guideline, the Sepsityper method) to identify factors and the quality of the obtained mass spectra. By comparing the protein profiles of bacteria from patients not treated with antibiotics to those treated with antibiotics based on the presence/absence of specific signals and using the UniProt platform, it was possible to predict the probable mechanism of the action of the antibiotic used and the mechanism of drug resistance.     

Stability of isoperimetric type inequalities for some Monge–Ampère functionals

We investigate the stability of some inequalities of isoperimetric type related to Monge–Ampère functionals. In particular, firstly we prove the stability of a reverse Faber–Krahn inequality for the Monge–Ampère eigenvalue and its generalization. Then we give a stability result for the Brunn–Minkowski inequality and for a consequent Urysohn’s type inequality for the so-called \(n\) -torsional rigidity, a natural extension of the usual torsional rigidity.     

Dissipative plasmon‐solitons in multilayer graphene

Nonlinear properties of a multi‐layer stack of graphene sheets are studied. It is predicted that such a structure may support dissipative plasmon‐solitons generated and supported by an external laser radiation. Novel nonlinear equations describing spatial dynamics of the nonlinear plasmons driven by a plane wave in the Otto configuration are derived and the existence of single and multi‐hump dissipative solitons in the graphene structure is predicted.