Sucrose analogs: an attractive (bio)source for glycodiversification

Covering: up to April 2012Sucrose is a widespread carbohydrate in nature and is involved in many biological processes. Its natural abundance makes it a very appealing renewable raw material for the synthetic production of high-valued molecules. To further diversify the structure and the inherent properties of these molecules, the access to sucrose analogs is of utmost interest and has historically been widely explored through chemical means. Nature also offers a large panel of sucrose-scaffold derivatives, including phosphorylated or highly substituted phenylpropanoid esters amenable to transformation. Additionally, the use of microorganisms or enzymes could provide an alternative ecologically-compatible manner to diversify sucrose-scaffold derivatives to enable the synthesis of oligo- or polysaccharides, glycoconjugates or polymers that could exhibit original properties for biotechnological applications. This review covers the main biological routes to sucrose derivatives or analogs that are prevalent in nature, that can be obtained via enzymatic processes and the potential applications of such sucrose derivatives in sugar bioconversion, in particular through the engineering of substrates, enzymes or microorganisms.     

Structural modulation of internal charge transfer in small molecular donors for organic solar cells

Donor-acceptor molecules with small chain extension have been synthesized and used as active material in organic solar cells. The effect of fusion of a phenyl group on the end dicyanovinylene acceptor is discussed.     

Validation of a method for the analysis of biogenic amines: Histamine instability during wine sample storage

This paper reports on the development of an optimized method for the simultaneous analysis of eight biogenic amines (histamine, methylamine, ethylamine, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine, phenethylamine, and isoamylamine). The analytical method thus proposed has the following advantages: the easy derivatization of wine, the quantification of biogenic amines and a complete degradation of excess derivatization reagent during sample preparation in order to preserve the column. It consists in reversed phase separation by HPLC and UV–vis detection of the aminoenones formed by the reaction of amino compounds with the derivatization reagent diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate (DEEMM). The usefulness of this technique was confirmed by an alternative oenological analytical method for the validation, quality control and uncertainty assessment (OIV Oeno 10/2005). The method was validated and proposed as a reference method to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). As a specific application of the proposed method, the biogenic amine content of Rhône valley wines was investigated.     

Banach Spaces of Solutions of the Helmholtz Equation in the Plane

The purpose of this article is to study the Hilbert space W²\mathcal{ W}^2 consisting of all solutions of the Helmholtz equation Du+u=0\Delta u+u=0 in \BbbR²\Bbb{R}^2 that are the image under the Fourier transform of L²L^2 densities in the unit circle. We characterize this space as a close subspace of the Hilbert space H²\mathcal{ H}^2 of all functions belonging to L²( | x | ^-3dx) L^2( | x | ^{-3}dx) jointly with their angular and radial derivatives, in the complement of the unit disk in \BbbR²\Bbb{R}^2. We calculate the reproducing kernel of W²\mathcal{ W}^2 and study its reproducing properties in the corresponding spaces H^p\mathcal{H}^p, for $p>1$p>1.     

Effects of a liquid lithium curtain as the first wall in a fusion reactor plasma

This paper explores the effect of a liquid lithium curtain on fusion reactor plasma, such curtain is utilized as the first wall for the engineering outline design of the Fusion Experimental Breeder （FEB-E）. The relationships between the surface temperature of a liquid lithium curtain and the effective plasma charge, fuel dilution and fusion power production have been derived. Results indicate that under normal operation, the evaporation of liquid lithium does not seriously affect the effective plasma charge, but effects on fuel dilution and fusion power are more sensitive. As an example, it has investigated the relationships between the liquid lithium curtain flow velocity and the rise of surface temperature based on operation scenario II of the FEB-E design with reversed shear configuration and high power density. Results show that even if the liquid lithium curtain flow velocity is as low as 0.5 m/s, the effects of evaporation from the liquid lithium curtain on plasma are negligible. In the present design, the sputtering of liquid lithium curtain and the particle removal effects of the divertor are not yet considered in detail. Further studies are in progress, and in this work implication of lithium erosion and divertor physics on fusion reactor operation are discussed.[第一段]     

Determination of rubidium in blood by flame emission spectrometry

Rubidium in plasma and whole blood was determined by flame atomic emission spectrometry after dilution 10× and 100× respectively with a 2.5 g Cs l^?1 solution used as an ionization suppressor. The method is more sensitive than inductively coupled plasma, and much simpler than, e.g., neutron activation analysis.     

Using E-Exercise Bases in Mathematics: Case Studies at University

E-Exercise Bases (EEB) are now used in the teaching of mathematics, especially at university. We discuss here the consequences of their use on the students’ activity during computer lab sessions. Results stem from observations of several teaching designs organised in different French universities with three e-exercise bases. The analysis focuses on new tasks and on specific solving strategies, which appear using these resources. Moreover, specific didactic contract clauses are studied.     

Semiclassical determination of exponentially small intermode transitions for 1 + 1 spacetime scattering systems

We consider the semiclassical limit of systems of autonomous PDEs in 1 + 1 spacetime dimensions in a scattering regime. We assume the matrix‐valued coefficients are analytic in the space variable, and we further suppose that the corresponding dispersion relation admits real‐valued modes only with one‐dimensional polarization subspaces. Hence a BKW‐type analysis of the solutions is possible. We typically consider time‐dependent solutions to the PDE that are carried asymptotically in the past and as x → ?∞ along one mode only and determine the piece of the solution that is carried for x → +∞ along some other mode in the future. Because of the assumed nondegeneracy of the modes, such transitions between modes are exponentially small in the semiclassical parameter; this is an expression of the Landau‐Zener mechanism. We completely elucidate the spacetime properties of the leading term of this exponentially small wave, when the semiclassical parameter is small, for large values of x and t, when some avoided crossing of finite width takes place between the involved modes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.